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Steamboat Springs — Ben Winship lives in Victor, Idaho, and his band mates Eric Thorin and Brian Wicklund live in Lyons and Minnesota, respectively.

But that doesn’t worry Winship. He said the few times per year the acoustic bluegrass band Brother Mule gets together to tour or record, they fall into perfect rhythm.

“When you’re a touring musician, you’re not really at home anyway,” Winship said. “It doesn’t really matter that you don’t all live in the same place. We have enough of a common vision and have enough gigs and material under our belt that it’s usually easy for us to get together and reinvent whatever it was we had going on before.”

On Thursday, as he geared up for a weeklong, eight-gig tour across Colorado and Wyoming, Winship spoke about the acoustic trio as a casual music collaboration among friends.

“We just sort of all enjoyed each other’s company,” he said. “And the few times we all ended up in the same place, we all hit it off musically. We all bring a pretty different thing to the table. We’ve been doing it off and on for six years, and we’ve made a couple records.”

They’ve toured in England and Alaska, but the band never has played in Steamboat.

That changes Monday, when the band plays an intimate, acoustic show at First String Music on Loggers Lane. Tickets are $15 for the limited-seating show, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

The three met one another through the wide network of acoustic musicians, having toured with acts such as Matt Flinner and Tony Furtado.

The trio configuration comprises Winship on mandolin, Thorin on bass and Wicklund on fiddle.

Noticeably missing is the guitar part, but Winship said the sparseness allows for more freedom in live performances.

“There’s Eric all by himself in the low register, Brian playing long high notes and me doing more percussive sounds,” he said. “Our roles are bigger than they would be in, say, a five-piece band.

“There’s a lot of freedom for it to be spontaneous — which isn’t an excuse for not being rehearsed — but the trio allows for a lot of spontaneous arranging and improvising.”

From obscure traditionals to fiddle-based instrumentals and vocal originals, Winship said Brother Mule could be characterized as falling somewhere among swing, singer-songwriter, bluegrass, Celtic and blues music.

“We’re good friends on and off stage and enjoy each other’s musical and social humor,” he said. “There’s a lightness that pervades our performances that people pick up on.”

To reach Nicole Inglis, call 907-871-4204 or email ninglis@SteamboatToday.com