WEBVTT 00:00:24.659 --> 00:00:28.239 What's up cheeseheads, ski bums, and fellow travelers? 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.800 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Bands, the podcast 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.600 where we dig deep into the music that makes you 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.539 close your eyes, raise your hands, and forget 00:00:37.539 --> 00:00:41.299 what day it is. I'm your host Shecky, and today, 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.079 oh today, it's a good day. Today we're talking 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:47.960 about a band that started as a bunch of ski bums 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.780 goofing off in a mountain town in Colorado and 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:54.770 turned into one of the most beloved most innovative 00:00:54.770 --> 00:00:58.789 and most flat out fun jam bands to ever walk 00:00:58.789 --> 00:01:01.789 onto the stage. Today we're talking about the 00:01:01.789 --> 00:01:06.790 string cheese incident. String cheese, CSI, the 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:10.109 cheese, whatever you call them. If you know, 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:12.989 you know. And if you don't, buckle up. By the 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:15.329 end of this episode, you're going to want to 00:01:15.329 --> 00:01:19.430 clear your calendar, pull up nugs .net and disappear 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:22.730 into some live recordings. Don't say I didn't 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:26.659 warn you. All right, let's set the scene. It's 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.840 1993. The place is Cresta Butte, Colorado, a 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:34.540 tiny ski town tucked in the rocky mountains. 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:40.060 Elevation, 8 ,900 feet. Population, not very 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:43.480 many. And in this little mountain outpost, four 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.340 guys kept running into each other on the slopes 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:50.400 and around town. You've got Bill Nershy on acoustic 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:54.700 guitar. Michael Kang on mandolin and violin, 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:59.340 Keith Mosley on bass, and Michael Travis on drums. 00:01:59.980 --> 00:02:03.519 These dudes were, by their own admission, ski 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.319 bums. They were not polished musicians looking 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.120 for a record deal. They just wanted to make enough 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.340 money to pay for the next day's ski lift. Travis, 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:16.599 the drummer, has been open about the fact that 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.780 he barely played drums before joining the outfit. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.379 He was strictly hand percussion, congas, bongos, 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:29.060 but the rawness, that DIY spirit that became 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:32.520 part of their identity. Now, here's the origin 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.840 story moment that I absolutely love, because 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:39.419 it involves a food fight at a Mexican restaurant. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:44.479 Yes, you heard me correctly. There was a legendary 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.460 powder week at Crested Butte. just epic snow 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:51.960 day after epic snow day, and eventually the whole 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:56.060 town was, quote, skied out. Everyone was exhausted. 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:59.479 And one afternoon, the locals piled into a place 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:04.080 called Donitas, which was this Mexican food joint 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:07.860 on the main strip. It started as a normal happy 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:11.580 hour, then it descended into a full restaurant 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:15.759 -wide food fight. Enchiladas, burritos, flying 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.759 through the air. Across the entire restaurant 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:22.560 nursery himself has said that that was the moment 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.439 that was the incident That was the energy chaotic 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:29.840 joyful completely unplanned the band had already 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:33.360 been calling it's themselves the blues string 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.180 cheese band Because they figured they were a 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:40.439 bluegrass group that also played and I love this 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:44.520 cheesy covers blue string cheese band, but the 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:48.530 name felt a little too wordy. After the enchilada 00:03:48.530 --> 00:03:52.469 apocalypse at Donita's, Nershe and crew just 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:55.009 started calling it the string cheese incident. 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:59.090 They made a t -shirt, Nershe carved a woodblock 00:03:59.090 --> 00:04:02.969 print logo himself, and once the merch existed, 00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:06.590 there was no going back. You made the t -shirt, 00:04:06.849 --> 00:04:12.009 you're the band. Now, interestingly, at some 00:04:12.009 --> 00:04:14.490 point, the band considered changing the name. 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:18.459 Kang has admitted they thought, is this really 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:21.259 going to be our name? But then hundreds of people 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:24.319 already knew them by that name. And that's when 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.879 they made a decision that I think defines everything 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:28.980 about this band. They said, if we're going to 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:31.740 keep this name, we have to make every show an 00:04:31.740 --> 00:04:35.079 incident. And from that point forward, they committed 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:39.199 to exactly that. So after the first performance, 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.540 which was literally a 15 -minute slot at a local 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:46.939 talent night, SCI started playing wherever they 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:49.720 could. Ski resorts, private functions, weddings. 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:52.920 They got paid in lift tickets. No, seriously, 00:04:53.220 --> 00:04:55.800 free lift tickets were a form of compensation 00:04:55.800 --> 00:05:00.339 early on. By 1995, they had made it to California. 00:05:00.459 --> 00:05:03.939 By 1996, all four original members made the big 00:05:03.939 --> 00:05:06.980 decision, quit their day jobs, moved to Boulder, 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:12.000 and go all in on the music. That same year, they 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.759 performed nearly 170 shows, 170 shows, I'll repeat 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:22.959 it, in a year. That's a relentless pace. And 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.199 it was right around the same time that they decided 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:29.600 to expand the lineup. They were a string band. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.600 Mandolin, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and they 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:37.839 started to feel the limitations of that palette. 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:42.529 They wanted to sustain. They wanted an organ 00:05:42.529 --> 00:05:46.089 to fill the spaces between the plunky string 00:05:46.089 --> 00:05:49.910 sounds. They envisioned a keyboard player before 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:54.509 they even knew who they wanted. Enter Kyle Hollingsworth. 00:05:54.889 --> 00:05:57.850 Kyle was playing in a local Boulder band when 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:02.370 SCI found him. Kyle joined in the fall of 1996 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:06.569 and the band was never the same. Then in 2004 00:06:06.569 --> 00:06:09.350 and 2005, depending on which source you trust, 00:06:09.870 --> 00:06:13.290 They brought in Jason Hahn on auxiliary percussion. 00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:16.750 You've got six people on stage and the rhythmic 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:19.949 foundation becomes absolutely monstrous. Hahn 00:06:19.949 --> 00:06:22.389 brought a whole new dimension of world music 00:06:22.389 --> 00:06:25.769 and electronic influence percussion to the sound. 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:30.310 By late 1990s, SCI was one of the most popular 00:06:30.310 --> 00:06:33.069 acts on the jam band circuit, right up there 00:06:33.069 --> 00:06:36.230 with Fish and Widespread Panic, in terms of buzz 00:06:36.230 --> 00:06:39.319 and following. and they did it the old -fashioned 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:41.920 way, relentless touring, taking care of their 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.040 fans, building community from the ground up. 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:47.339 I have to spend a few minutes on this because 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:50.759 it's generally remarkable and it often gets overlooked 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.899 when people talk about SEI's legacy. These guys 00:06:53.899 --> 00:06:56.759 were not just great musicians, they were pioneers 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:00.819 of an entirely new way of being a band. When 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:03.399 the internet was just getting off the ground 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:08.639 in the mid to late 1990s, when the major label 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:12.720 model was creaking and groaning. The string cheese 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.439 incident went independent and built their own 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:18.699 ecosystem. They weren't signed to a major label. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:21.959 They found SCI Fidelity Records, their own label, 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:25.259 in 1998. They ran their own management company, 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:27.379 their own merchandising company, and their own 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:31.839 ticketing company, and even had a fan travel 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.920 agency so that dedicated followers could book 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:38.829 trips to follow the the band on tour. Think about 00:07:38.829 --> 00:07:42.350 that, a travel agency for fans. In 1998, these 00:07:42.350 --> 00:07:46.329 guys invented what we now call the 360 degree 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:49.610 artist model before it had a name. They were 00:07:49.610 --> 00:07:51.910 also among the very first artists to put all 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.829 of their live shows online for free. Every single 00:07:54.829 --> 00:07:57.490 show they played was made available through their 00:07:57.490 --> 00:08:01.970 own on -the -road series on Nugs .net. They embraced 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:04.889 file sharing and digital distribution when the 00:08:04.889 --> 00:08:07.420 record industry was fighting a tooth and nail. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:09.819 They understood something profound. Their fans 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:12.560 weren't their enemies. Their fans were their 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.220 greatest asset. Share the music, build the community, 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:18.600 trust the people you love. And in 2002, when 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:20.560 Ticketmaster tried to prevent them from selling 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.180 tickets directly to their fans, SCI didn't back 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:26.639 down. They filed a lawsuit against one of the 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.540 most powerful companies in the entertainment 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.319 business. over the right to sell their tickets 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:33.659 on their own, that kind of backbone standing 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.379 up for the independent music community cemented 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:39.919 their status as not just a great band, but a 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:43.360 great institution. They also walked the walk 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.320 on environmental sustainability because among 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:50.039 the first acts to push for green touring, they 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:53.200 helped launch non -profits like Conscious Alliance 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.179 and Headcount. These were not just musicians, 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.269 these were community builders. Okay, let's talk 00:08:59.269 --> 00:09:01.149 about the music because that's, at the end of 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:04.090 the day, that's what we're really here for. The 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.529 genius of string cheese incident is that you 00:09:06.529 --> 00:09:09.710 cannot put them in a box. The roots are bluegrass, 00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:13.629 the campfire jams, the flat picking, the love 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:17.230 of new grass revival and bella fleck, but they 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:20.009 took that and exploded it into something that 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:23.850 incorporates rock, funk, jazz, reggae, calypso, 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:27.340 latin, electronica, psychedelica. and progressive 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:31.220 rock, sometimes all within the same song, sometimes 00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:35.059 within the same jam. Kang said once, improvisation 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:38.659 isn't about kicking butt chops. It's about getting 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:41.919 into space together where you're creating good 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.000 cohesive music as a group. And that's exactly 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.360 what SCI does. The jams don't feel like five 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.659 guys showing off. They feel like a single organism 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:55.190 making decisions in real time. There's a musicality 00:09:55.190 --> 00:09:58.450 and a care for their improvisation that sets 00:09:58.450 --> 00:10:02.330 them apart. Every member writes original compositions. 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:05.850 Every member sings. This is not a one person 00:10:05.850 --> 00:10:09.929 show. This is, as some people describe, a democratic 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:13.529 ensemble. And the democracy produces a remarkable 00:10:13.529 --> 00:10:16.149 breadth of material. So if you're new to string 00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:19.409 cheese, here's a listening guide. I'm going to 00:10:19.409 --> 00:10:22.549 walk you through the essential song. that makes 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:25.110 them so special and why you need this song in 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:28.210 your life. You should start with Land's End. 00:10:28.450 --> 00:10:31.049 This is a Bill Nershe composition that dates 00:10:31.049 --> 00:10:34.250 back to their very first album, Born on the Wrong 00:10:34.250 --> 00:10:37.889 Planet. It's a sweeping atmospheric piece, starts 00:10:37.889 --> 00:10:40.889 with a gentle melodic theme, then builds into 00:10:40.889 --> 00:10:44.730 extended territory that can go anywhere on any 00:10:44.730 --> 00:10:48.590 given night. It has that quality the best Jim 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.799 band songs have. where the written parts feel 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:54.580 like a launch pad rather than a destination. 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:57.860 Live versions can stretch into 15 to 20 minute 00:10:57.860 --> 00:11:01.539 range. It's one of the most requested songs that 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:04.820 has ever left the rotation after three decades. 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:07.720 If you want to understand the core of SCI is 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:11.000 about melodically and emotionally, please start 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.279 here. There's tons of other live jams you should 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.279 see. One you should definitely check out is the 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.200 Asheville Rollover Sandwich. November 11th, 2000. 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:24.299 Okay, let's get into some wild and wonderful 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:26.740 facts about the string cheese incident that you 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:30.440 might not know. Sims and Skrillex. You read it 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.440 correctly. String Cheese Incident once re -recorded 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.820 their song Close Your Eyes entirely in Simlish, 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.799 the fictional language from the video game The 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:45.860 Sims, for a Sims soundtrack. Then in 2015, they 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:50.960 collaborated with EDM superstar Skrillex, a bluegrass 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.220 rooted Colorado Jam band, and the king of dubstep. 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:58.659 The collaboration happened. They had 220 shows 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.440 in a year at the height of their powers. SCI 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.259 was performing upward of 220 shows in a single 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.600 calendar year. That's almost a show every other 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.620 day. No wonder they built a travel agency for 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:14.450 their fans. Their fans need one. The acrobats 00:12:14.450 --> 00:12:17.029 and the light shows. While SCI became known for 00:12:17.029 --> 00:12:19.669 integrating elaborate stage productions into 00:12:19.669 --> 00:12:23.429 the live shows, acrobats, circus performers, 00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:27.690 multi -angle lights rigging with fixtures that 00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:30.789 created UFO -like visuals, their lighting designer 00:12:30.789 --> 00:12:34.149 Andy Kass became famous in the industry for the 00:12:34.149 --> 00:12:37.190 scale and vision of these designs. They were 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:40.889 not just a band, they were full of sensory experience. 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:43.899 I mentioned before the lawsuit against Ticketmaster. 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:46.799 They were willing to fight a billion dollar corporation 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:50.860 to protect their fans. They were a leftover salmon 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.100 cover band. So Drew Emmett, co -founder of the 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:57.779 Colorado Jam Legends Leftover Salmon, has confirmed 00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:01.320 that string cheese began partly as a band that 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.820 covered leftover salmon material from cover band 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.720 to headlining in Bonnaroo. That's a real journey. 00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:10.799 So what do we say about the string cheese incident? 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:13.120 as we close this out. Here's what I keep coming 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.039 back to. The name. The incident. They committed 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.799 early on that every show needed to be an incident. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:21.840 Something worth talking about. Something you 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.220 didn't expect. Something that made you feel like 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.879 you were present for something unrepeatable. 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:29.740 And for over three decades they have delivered 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:32.559 on that promise. Not every night is the Asheville 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.720 rollover sandwich or the Fillmore with Ricky 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.909 Skaggs, but every night There is that attempt. 00:13:39.129 --> 00:13:41.669 Every night there is that spirit of where are 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:44.549 we going to create something tonight that has 00:13:44.549 --> 00:13:47.730 never existed before and will never exist again. 00:13:47.990 --> 00:13:51.309 That is what improvised music is for. That is 00:13:51.309 --> 00:13:53.649 what the string cheese incident is for. They 00:13:53.649 --> 00:13:56.549 built their own world, their own label, their 00:13:56.549 --> 00:13:58.769 own ticketing, their own travel agency, their 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:01.870 own community, and they did it in service of 00:14:01.870 --> 00:14:05.009 the music and the fans. In an era when major 00:14:05.009 --> 00:14:10.299 labels We're failing and artists were being crushed. 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:14.120 SCI looked at the landscape and said, we're doing 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.200 this ourselves. That take combined with music, 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:20.080 that is the legacy that's impossible to overstate. 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:23.019 If you've never seen them live and they're still 00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:27.580 touring, please fix that. Go to a show, get there 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:31.019 early, find a spot with a good view of the whole 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:34.940 stage. And when they start to jam, Just let go. 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:37.500 Let the incident happen to you. Thank you so 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:40.440 much for tuning into Shecky's Jam Bands. This 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.940 has been a labor of love. Next week, we'll be 00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:45.299 back with another deep dive into another band 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:47.919 that changed the way that we think about live 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:52.019 music. Until then, keep jamming, keep traveling, 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.460 and remember, every night is an incident if you're 00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:56.100 paying attention.