When the String Cheese Incident performs, anything can happen.
Sometimes the group's onstage antics are as unpredictable as their
jams. At one show (or “incident”) in Philadelphia, the
band shaved bassist Keith Moseley's head onstage. “It was
pretty crazy,” laughs keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth.
“Keith had been planning to do it anyway, so we convinced him
to do it during set break.” Moseley was not about to give up
his hair for nothing, however. “He said he wouldn't do it
unless we paid him $300, so we took up a collection amongst the
band members, then asked for donations from the audience. They were
giving us singles, and finally we got close enough that Keith
agreed.” The deed was done by drummer Michael Travis.
“The hair flew all over the stage and just covered our
gear,” says Hollingsworth. “It was no big deal, but we
had to do a lot of cleanup afterward.”
High jinks not withstanding, the Colorado-based outfit has
become one of the staples of the jam-band circuit on the strength
of its members' musical ability. In addition to Hollingsworth,
Moseley, and Travis, the band includes Bill Nershi on acoustic
guitar and Michael Kang on mandolin and violin. The String Cheese
Incident (the name's meaning remains a mystery that the band
members half-jokingly refuse to comment on) began as a
“newgrass” outfit but has expanded its sound to include
healthy doses of jazz, funk, and rock. String Cheese concerts now
bear little resemblance to the bluegrass mountain hoedowns of the
band's early days.
It's not unusual for String Cheese to play a bluegrass tune such
as “How Mountain Girls Can Love” and follow it with a
jazz standard such as Weather Report's “Birdland.”
Extended jams are typical; songs often go on for 15 minutes and
segue nonstop from one to the next for an entire set. Constant
touring has taken String Cheese to the upper echelons of the
jam-band ranks. As recently as 1999, they were playing venues that
seated less than 1,000. By June 2000, however, the band was
headlining a nearly sold-out show at the 9,000-seat Red Rocks
Amphitheater outside Denver. Clearly they've come up in the
world.
Unlike many bands, the String Cheese Incident is not afraid to
bring in high-quality opening acts. Past openers have included
legendary bluegrass picker Peter Rowan, former Allman Brothers
axeman Warren Haynes, African drummer Babatunde Olatunji, bluegrass
pickers Tim O'Brien and Jerry Douglas, Los Lobos, Spearhead, and
Bunny Wailer. The February 2001 run at the Fillmore Auditorium in
Denver found the band jamming with Bruce Hornsby, Blind Boys of
Alabama, and Little Feat.
Despite increasing success, the String Cheese Incident remains a
down-home outfit. The band's production company, Madison House, is
located in a small professional building in Boulder, which also
houses the group's record label, SCI Fidelity Records. A travel
office upstairs makes complete travel arrangements for fans who
want to attend big shows like the annual International Fling, where
the band plays a spring weekend in some tropical locale —
they've held past Flings in Mexico and Costa Rica. Madison House
also runs the SCI Ticketing Agency, a project conceived as an
alternative to Ticketmaster. Although the online ticket-ordering
system has experienced some problems, the band is working to iron
things out.
I sat in the band's office and talked with Moseley before a
recent show in Colorado. As Moseley trekked in with his dog, the
master of the new String Cheese Incident CD, Outside Inside —
scheduled for a May 15 release — arrived at the office.
(Unfortunately he didn't allow me a peek; the band wanted to keep
the contents under wraps until the release date.) As we sat on a
couch and talked, Moseley's dog played with several others that had
the run of the place.
Where was the band's first show, and was it all
acoustic?
Our first show was in December 1993; it was a locals-night
talent show in Crested Butte, Colorado, playing for a whole 15
minutes. Our first real gig was shortly after that, at the Depot in
Telluride. We started playing ski-town gigs in Summit County,
Crested Butte, Telluride, that kind of thing. The shows were as
electric as we were, gearwise [laughs]. Travis was playing hand
drums and congas. Of course Billy was on acoustic guitar. Michael
was playing acoustic mandolin and violin, and I had an electric
bass from the beginning. But it was very geared down compared to
where we are now.
How soon after that did you play the Telluride Bluegrass
Festival?
I guess we played it for the first time in June 1994. We were
the opening act of the festival, which was a huge gig for us. We
had been gigging for only six months, and it was a real coup. We
were on top of the world. We played in front of a couple thousand
people, and a lot of them were friends we knew from skiing in
Crested Butte and Telluride. It went quite well. We had a blast and
we were well received, and it gave us a lot of confidence and
inspiration to move forward.
I heard that on your first tour you played ski towns to get
ski passes.
That's it exactly. We started playing out in 1994, spending the
rest of that summer in Colorado. By 1995, we were really touring,
getting out of the local ski towns and to Utah and California. I
think we went to California for the first time in 1995. I could be
wrong, but that's what my memory tells me anyway [laughs].
Now you're headlining at the Rocky Mountain Fillmore with
your biggest opening acts yet. Are you feeling any pressure coming
on after Bruce Hornsby and Little Feat?
It's pretty big. A little while back I had to reconcile my
feelings about us and the opening acts, and that it's not based on
who is better or has more experience or anything like that. It
doesn't make any sense to me that Little Feat plays before us,
because they have been a favorite band of mine for 10 to 15 years.
I've had to get past the who-opens-for-whom issues. At this point,
we are incredibly fortunate to share the stage with these
performers. We get to share musical ideas with them and learn from
people I've enjoyed listening to for years.
When you do jams with bands such as Los Lobos and Spearhead,
do you work things out in sound check?
As much as possible. With Spearhead we got a chance to rehearse
a little bit at sound check. With Los Lobos all we got to do was
meet them and say hi in the dressing room. We got onstage not
really knowing what we were going to play. We started jamming with
them, and at one point during the jam, David Hidalgo leaned over
and said in my ear, “Do you guys know ‘Down by the
River’ by Neil Young?” And I said, “More or less;
you guys just lead it and we'll follow you,” and that worked
out pretty well. It was a lot of fun. “Bertha” was
spontaneous that way too.
Of all the shows you've played in recent years, do any stand
out as particularly important to your development?
I'm not really sure. There have certainly been milestone gigs,
like opening for Phil [Lesh] and Friends and Bob Dylan last year at
the Gorge. That is another one of these “Oh my God, I can't
believe we are playing on the same stage as Bob Dylan and
Phil” [experiences]. Certainly some of the Telluride
Bluegrass gigs were big milestones for us. They put us in front of
large audiences for the first time, and the same is true of the
High Sierra appearances. Red Rocks is a pretty overwhelming
experience the first time. The Greek Theatre [in L.A.] also stands
out as a really classy and legendary venue.
Do you guys ever get stage fright before a really big show,
like when you headlined Red Rocks last summer with Bunny Wailer
opening?
Stage fright is a funny thing for me. I usually don't get it at
the biggest gigs. I'll get it some Tuesday night in the middle of
the tour at some venue that isn't a standout show in any way, but
for some reason the butterflies will creep in. Usually I'm pretty
good about getting psyched up for the big gigs and I don't get
stage fright. Sometimes the other guys do. Billy was pretty nervous
at Red Rocks last summer, but he played great.
When working out your arrangements, do you choose particular
spots in the various songs from which to start your jams?
Yeah, usually each song, if we are going to take it long, has a
specific point that is the jumping-off point, where we start the
jam at the same point every time. The jam may take different
directions. Sometimes we'll have a little bit of discussion
beforehand. We might suggest trying, for instance, a
reggae-sounding minor jam here, where we will play a I-VII chord
progression or something like that. Sometimes we don't discuss it
at all; there will be an arrow on the set list, and it's
“Okay, heads up.” If someone comes up with an
interesting melody or hook, he'll just go for it, and everyone else
will try to follow along.
Do in-ear monitors facilitate your communication during the
jam, either musically or vocally?
Yeah, they do help, because you really hear every detail of the
music. When you have five musicians depending on real interplay,
it's important to hear every nuance onstage. We also have two
talk-back mics — one on each side of the stage — that
aren't in the P.A. They pick up a little bit of stage sound, and we
can also lean over and quietly say, “Hey, let's skip the next
tune on the set list and go right to the last tune,” or,
“Hey, can I have a drink of your beer,” or, “I
think you were out of tune on that, but it went pretty well
anyway,” or whatever it might be [laughs]. It's nice to have
some communication between each other onstage.
When guests sit in, do you equip them with in-ear
monitors?
Yes, we have in-ear rigs for two guests at a time. If there are
more people, we'll usually bring in a wedge or two.
How does the band decide who's going to lead the
jam?
It's usually not discussed. It goes back to that previous
question. If we talk about a jam beforehand — sometimes in
warm-up — Billy or Kyle might say, “I have an idea for
this jam,” and they might explain a chord structure or a
melody hook, or it might be, “Everybody, heads up and just
listen to this idea when we get there.” You listen for a part
that will work and jump in.
On the jams, do you listen to one person in particular for
cues?
No. We try to make the five instruments come across as a single
voice. I listen for someone to set up a melodic idea. If no one
jumps right out with an idea at the beginning, it's more often a
slow, subtle build. People will tease different ideas, and if I
hear something I can latch on to, I might go with that, or someone
might lay out a little riff or hook to give others ideas and see if
anyone runs with it. It's a listening exercise as the jams are
getting started. I stand next to Kyle, so sometimes if he has an
idea and I am not picking it up, he can shout instructions to me
[laughs] — “It's D, B minor, A” — that kind
of thing.
It seems like different people sing particular tunes at
different times. For instance, Bill used to sing “Born on the
Wrong Planet,” but now Michael sings it. How do you decide
who gets the lead vocal?
Bill has written the bulk of the tunes. In the beginning
especially, we played mostly Bill's tunes, but everyone is a
competent singer, and everyone wanted a chance to sing. Bill was
kind enough to let Mike or me sing some of his songs. Now
occasionally we'll switch and let Bill go back to singing a tune
that Mike or I usually sing.
In recent years, the band has used more jazz motifs in its
songs and jams. For instance, “Rivertrance” (based on a
traditional Irish tune called “Cooley's Reel”) has a
hypnotic jazzy thing going on behind it; in the middle Michael
plays jazz lines on both the fiddle and mandolin. Why have you
moved away from your more traditional folk and bluegrass
base?
It's just a continual expansion of musical ideas. As we grow and
become better players, we're going to try different styles. The
band's sound will continue to evolve as long as we play together.
In the beginning, things were more bluegrass-based because that's
what we were most comfortable playing. As we learn more and become
more comfortable with different styles, we'll experiment with those
styles.
You're right — recently a lot of [our] jams and new tunes
have had more jazz flavors. That is where we are right now with the
music. I don't think we should say that is where the band's sound
is going or where it will be permanently. We will continue to
experiment with that, and we will be working with other styles. For
instance, Michael just spent three weeks in Brazil, and Travis has
been to Cuba, so I am sure we will spend time learning Brazilian
and Cuban music. That is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being
in this band: the stylistic diversity and the willingness of the
band to jump in different directions.
Who does most of the songwriting these days, and do you
collaborate on any songs?
There is a little bit of collaboration. On the new album
[Outside Inside], Bill and I cowrote a bluegrass tune called
“Up the Canyon.” Bill is still the most prolific
songwriter, but Michael is writing a lot, I do some, Kyle has new
tunes all the time, and Travis will probably be doing his first
tune soon. It is very exciting to be in a band that has five
writers. That contributes to the band's appeal and keeps things
changing.
Who are some of the main influences on your songwriting
style?
Some of my favorite songwriters are Tim O'Brien, Paul Simon, and
Bob Dylan, although I'm not sure my songwriting style really
reflects those influences.
What is your favorite tune of the band's originals?
“We try to make the five instruments come across as a
single voice.”
— Keith Moseley
That's hard. My favorite tune this week is “Outside
Inside,” the title track to the new CD. I enjoy it because it
is such a powerful, driving rock tune.
How do you decide what covers you want to play?
Everybody brings ideas to rehearsal, and we sift through them
and decide what is cool and what we hate [laughs]. I'm kind of a
junkie for a good classic rock cover, though.
“Joyful Sound” has become a favorite among
Cheeseheads, especially because it's so upbeat. What was the
inspiration for the song?
That song is really taken from excerpts from my journal, notes
to myself on things to think about to be a better person. It was
really personal stuff, but somehow it came across in song lyrics,
and every time I sing it, I feel like these are words to myself,
words I want to be conscious of — ideas about how I want to
live my life. If by singing those lyrics, I can present ideas other
people can identify with and keep hold of, that's great. But
originally they started as reminders to myself about ways I'd like
to try to be.
How do you like the new V-DOSC system you're using [V-DOSC
systems consist of arrays of specially designed P.A. enclosures
placed to ensure maximum coverage]?
I think it sounds fantastic. V-DOSC really lets you cover the
whole room clearly with no overlap. Onstage that translates to much
cleaner sound. If the room is good and we don't get much slap-back
onstage, the stage sound is about as good as you could hope for.
It's clean and relatively quiet, with no feedback or boominess.
That — and the in-ear rig we use — really makes it nice
for us.
How often does the band rehearse?
We try and do ten days on average before every tour. While we're
on tour, we do a good two hours at sound check. That has been a
real beneficial time for us to practice and work up new songs and
covers.
Many jam bands are famous for not being able to make a
decent studio record [Moseley laughs]. Does your approach in the
studio differ significantly from what you do onstage?
This time we really didn't try to make a live record in the
studio; we tried to make a good studio record. We recorded all the
basic tracks live. Most of what you hear on the record is basic
tracks with a few overdubs. We did two things differently on the
new record. First, we brought in Steve Berlin to produce. We met
him when we played with Los Lobos last year at the Fillmore. We're
excited to have his creative input — his ideas on song
arrangement and sounds. It was nice to work with a creative force
from outside the band, someone to offer outside ideas. Second, we
really wanted to highlight the songs and get down to the essence of
what makes each one great. We tried to let the songs shine. Maybe
we cut the solos down; a solo that might be two minutes live is
shorter — say, 30 seconds — but that might be all the
song needed. We tried to pare it down and say, “What does
this song need to shine on its own?” I think it comes across.
The performances are strong; the production is great — it's
the best album we've made.
Does using your own record label make it harder to
distribute your CDs nationally?
I don't think so. We have national distribution. We get the CDs
out, and people can find them everywhere. It's just a matter of our
continuing to tour and promoting the albums. I think the new CD
will sell quite well.
You get busier every year, with Winter Carnival, big summer
shows, and a huge New Year's thing. Do you ever worry about not
being able to top what you've already done or keeping it
fresh?
Yeah, I do worry about [not] being able to top what we've done.
I don't know what we'll do for New Year's Eve next year. Keeping it
fresh is usually not a problem for the band, because of all the
songwriting. Every time we take a break and come back into
rehearsals, we have a fresh batch of songs. Everyone in the band is
pretty driven to continue to improve as a musician, so every time
we take a break and come back, it's exciting to start playing
again. The pace that we're working right now — about 95 shows
a year — seems to be a real good pace, as far as feeling
fresh on tour and having the time off to write songs. We're excited
to hit the road again.
Candace Horgan, a freelance writer living in Denver,
writes about the twin loves of her life, music and climbing. She is
a regular contributor to the Denver Post, Mix, Fiddler, Climbing,
and Relix. She has played guitar for 15 years, has recently begun
studying fiddle, and is also studying sound engineering in her
spare time.
onstage•hotlinks
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This fan site maintains a tape-trading board, a set-list archive, a
bulletin board, photos, and more.
www.stringcheeseincident.com
The official site — check here for tour dates, CDs, and
merchandise. Also buy tickets and get the latest band news.
String Cheese Gear
Bill Nershi: acoustic guitar,
vocals
1974 Martin D-28
Santa Cruz H Model
(Both guitars are outfitted with Sunrise magnetic sound-hole
pickups and a MacIntyre contact piezo pickup.)
Avalon U5 DI
Pendulum SP-1 preamp
QSC power amp
Daedalus S-82 speaker cabinet
FMR Audio RNC compressor
TC Electronic G-Force multi-effects pedal
Behringer equalizer
Furman PL8 power conditioner
Rocktron foot controller
Ernie Ball volume pedal
Neumann 170 mic on the speaker cabinet, and a stereo direct input
to front of house (FOH)
Neumann KMS 150 vocal mic
Kyle Hollingsworth: keyboards, vocals
Roland A90 keyboard
Kurzweil Micro piano
Fender Rhodes electric piano
Roland JP8000 synthesizer
Hammond B-3
Monarch accordion, mounted with Countryman pickups and miked
Leslie 147 cabinet
Neumann KMS 150 vocal mic
All the keyboards except the Hammond B-3 are submixed into a
Mackie 1202 mixer, and then a left and right feed are sent from the
1202 to the console at FOH. The B-3 is miked from the Leslie
cabinet: two Audix D-4 mics for the top and an Audio-Technica AT25
at the bottom.
Michael Kang: mandolin, violin, vocals
Ron Oates custom electric mandolin with Bill Lawrence
pickups
Ron Oates custom acoustic mandolin equipped with a Hot Dot
pickup
Jonathan Cooper acoustic violin equipped with an LR Baggs bridge
pickup
Chard Stuff preamp (for the acoustic instruments)
Mesa/Boogie Formula preamp (for the electric mandolin)
DBX 2042 parametric equalizer
TC Electronic 2290 digital delay
TC Electronic G-Force multi-effects unit
Mesa/Boogie Revolver rotating speakers
Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamers (2)
Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal
Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron
DigiTech WH-I whammy pedal
Ernie Ball volume pedal
Digital Music Corporation Ground Control effects controller
Digital Music Corporation Ground Control Ground Link loop
selector
Sennheiser MD 409 mics on the left and right mandolin cabinet
Audix CM-111 on fiddle cabinet
(Signals are sent from the cabinets and preamps to FOH and blended
there.)
Neumann KMS 150 vocal mic
Keith Moseley: bass, vocals
Modulus Genesis 5 bass
Alembic F1X preamp
SWR Stereo 800 power amp
SWR Goliath III 4×10 cabinets (2)
DBX 160 compressor
Mutron pedal
Electro-Harmonix Bassballs
EBS UniChorus
Audix CM-111 mic on bass cabinet
Neumann KMS 150 vocal mic
Michael Travis: drums
5" × 14" Ludwig steel snare
8" × 10", 10" × 12", 14" × 16" Tribes toms
2" × 8" DW single-headed tom
11" LP conga
LP bongos
LP Matador timbalitos
18" × 22" bass drum
19" Zildjian K Custom Dark China cymbal
20" Sabian HH medium-heavy ride
15" Zildjian A Custom Crash Zildjian Zilbell
12" Sabian Sound Control splash
6" Sabian hi-hat (mounted on X-hat)
14" Sabian HH crash
14" Zildjian New Bear hi-hat
Toca Cha Cha bell
LP Mambo bell
LP Tapon bell
LP Jamblock
Rhythm Tech timbale bell
Tama Iron Cobra pedals
Pearl Icon rack
Vic Firth Buddy Rich model sticks
Travis uses Remo heads: coated Ambassadors on snare top and tom
bottoms; Renaissance Ambassadors on tom batters (using duct tape
for muffling on small toms and muffling ring on the 16"); and
Powerstroke 3 on the bass drum, with an Attack front head with a 4"
hole.
Six Shure SM98 mics are used on the toms and percussion, with
two Shure KSM32s for overheads, an M88 for the kick drum, and a
Beta 57 for snare.
