By Louie Ferrera

I just spent the past three days dancing at the center of a swirling vortex of bliss. Tie dye, rainbows and glitter burst forth from its center and up into the air creating a vortex of its own. There were hugs and kisses and smiles, dust and sweat and joy…so much joy! At one point the individual ceased to exist, we simply morphed into one massive, swirling organism of love. Is this some kind of hippie fantasy? A psychedelic vision of an unobtainable nirvana? A time trip back to Woodstock? Nope, just another weekend of music and magic courtesy of The String Cheese Incident.

The String Cheese Incident (SCI, The Cheese) had their humble beginnings in the early 90s as a Colorado-based quartet of bluegrass picking ski bums (a fifth member was soon added followed by a sixth a decade later). Like a snowball rolling downhill the band gradually gained momentum, building a large and dedicated fan base that is the envy of any touring band. Like the late, great Grateful Dead, Cheese fans follow the band on tour, never missing a show. A run of shows is a much anticipated and celebratory event where old friends gather and new friends are made. When The Cheese come to town jobs and responsibilities are put on hold. SCI is the vehicle and focal point, an empty canvas onto which we the fans and they the band create something new and original during every show. Once the last notes fade away, the canvas is wiped clean in preparation for the next day’s festivities. We are thousands of Van Goghs, each adding a color from our individual palette.

The emergence of the Jam Band scene coincided with the demise of the Grateful Dead following the untimely death of Jerry Garcia in 1995. SCI has been at the vanguard of that scene ever since, gathering up stray Deadheads and like minded travelers along the way who were looking for adventure and something different. SCI are musical chameleons who defy description. Throughout the three hour journey that is a String Cheese show, a straight ahead bluegrass rave-up can morph seamlessly into a furious techno jam then back into the bluegrass, like Bill Monroe on acid. There are latin infused melodies and West African rhythms, lightening fast guitar picking and seamless ensemble paying that is nothing short of telepathic. SCI plays original music but you never know when they’ll throw in a nugget by The Allman Brothers or Talking Heads. The band understands the value of a well placed cover tune. 

So, who the hell are these musical Merlins? Drummer extraordinaire  Michael Travis, percussionist and erstwhile rapper Jason Hahn, laconic bassist Keith Moseley, firey electric mandolinist and fiddler Michael Kang, bouncy, bearded acoustic guitarist Billy Nershi and keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, that’s who! Like all good bands, each member adds their own unique personality and playing style to the mix. With The Cheese, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Billy, Keith, Kang and Kyle write the songs and sing ‘em too. The vocal harmonies are solid; two, three and even sometimes four part. Billy is a Tony Rice caliber flat picker with a little Dickey Betts thrown in for good measure. His playing style is tasteful and original. Kang has taken the mandolin boldly where no man has gone before. Think Bela Fleck on banjo and you’ll get an idea of his virtuosity. The interplay between these two is furious and inventive. Moseley is rock solid on bass. His gentle anthem Joyful Sound is a staple of their live shows and sums up nicely the simple joys of making music for people. Kyle sits perched atop a riser surrounded by keyboards, moving easily between piano, organ and synthesizer. He’s the “funny headgear” guy in the band. Kyle’s easy-going stage presence belies the seriousness of his playing. Keeping this train on the tracks are the Dynamic Duo of Travis and Hahn. Michael drives the band on traps, he’s a whirling dervish, all hands and feet. Jason adds the seasoning with congas, talking drum, djembe, shaker, cowbell and the kitchen sink.

The guys in String Cheese are serious musicians but they don’t take themselves too seriously. This is a band that knows how to have fun. Their symbol is the humble jellyfish. Taken from the eponymous Billy Nershi tune on their debut album Born On The Wrong Planet, this song tells the tale of a rough morning after a night of marathon tequila drinking when Billy’s brain is “just a jellyfish in the ocean of my head.” Dancing through the crowd at every Cheese show you’ll find people wielding homemade jellyfish fashioned from colorful umbrellas, complete with flowing tendrils of flashing LED lights.

Besides being a one-of-a-kind, impossible to define musical experience, the band creates something else, something that we all desire, something that we all need: community. Like it or not, modern American society is all about the “me” but, at an SCI show it’s all about the “we” where  possibilities are limitless; no wonder they titled one of their albums Untying The Not! While The Cheese are holding court, we’re not focused on our phones but rather on the band and the kaleidoscopic synthesis that occurs when like-minded people and mind blowing musicians come together. Despite what the media is constantly telling us, it’s not all shit!! Step inside the force field that is a String Cheese concert and you’ll quickly see that love and beauty, joy and acceptance, camaraderie and creativity abound and are alive and well.

I guess what I try and do is to take all of this goodness that I’m filled with after a run of SCI shows and put some of it out into the world. Here’s the deal: String Cheese you keep playing, we’ll keep coming and together maybe, just maybe, we can steer our troubled world in a more positive, hopeful and loving direction.