Mission Mountain Wood Band

No one can live in the state long without hearing stories of this explosive home-grown band that created Woodstock-style happenings in Missoula, then traveled America’s highways for ten years delivering a unique blend of rock and roll, country, bluegrass, and just plain down-home mountain music to college campuses, television studios, and the smoky clubs of New York City—always returning home to play for throngs of fevered fans at UM’s annual Aber Day parties.

The University of Montana is the proud parent of this legend. The five original members—Rob Quist, Steve Riddle, Christian Johnson, Greg Reichenberg, and the late Terry Robinson—were all UM students and Montana natives. Quist is from Cutbank, Riddle from Libby, Robinson from Kalispell, and Reichenberg and Johnson from Billings.

They each played at least two instruments, collectively mastering every wooden instrument light enough to carry. They played banjos, acoustic and electric guitars and bass, mandolins, fiddle, steel guitar, flute, and every kind of drum worth hitting. Four-part harmonies were their trademark—along with theatrical shows that included jig dancing, country patter, and lots of stomping. They wrote their own songs and rearranged ones that would never be the same after their version emerged.

During their ’70s heyday the band played more than 250 shows a year, performing in every state in the union except Hawaii. But what they were most known for were the audiences that showed up every time, everywhere they played. In the spirit of what makes Montana home to every walk of life and credo, Mission Mountain Wood Band’s following was as diverse as its music. Bikers, hippies, bankers, punks, and politicians were known to drive far out of their way to catch a Mission Mountain concert.

According to anyone who was lucky enough to be around at the time, Mission Mountain was a one-of-a-kind band. No knockoffs, no look-alikes. The closest thing to a Mission Mountain concert would have been a concert by the Grateful Dead—a comparison that is often made. But it is a comparison of apples and oranges, according to UM MFA graduate Dyna Kuehnle, a former girlfriend of Robinson’s and still a close friend to the band members and their families.