String Cheese Incident has held up very well in the 30 years since its inception in Colorado.
The multi-genre sextet has kept the same lineup all these years, with percussionist Jason Hahn joining in 2006. It has released 11 studio albums but has mainly built on its reputation as a live band whose long performances are marked by improvisations and frequent surprises in the repertoire. — many of which have been documented on SCI’s own series of concert recordings.
The troupe released a new album, “Lend Me a Hand,” this month and is currently on tour as part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival, needing to control the length of their shows but not at the expense of their adventurous spirit…
• Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth said over the phone that SCI was “super, super, super excited” to be a part of the Outlaw festival and keep the iconic Nelson company. “We’ve definitely played with him in the past. It was a party; we went first or second and he was after us, and it was incredible. But we have no relationship. We may have said hello to him, but I think for the most part it’s the first time we’ll be in the same place as him for quite a while.
• Hollingsworth, 55, joined SCI in 1996, three years after its founding. He says the band is both surprised and honored to have reached the 30-year milestone. “It’s probably the longest thing I’ve done, other than being brother and sister.” (Time) passed very quickly, it seemed. To be honest, the first eight to ten years were so difficult that we had no concept of time. It was just, “OK, this is what we’re doing now, and then we’ll do this and we’ll do that…” And then, in year 15, he said, “OK, now we can make some choices between what we want to do and what we need to do. We created a buzz about it; Let’s see how we can be creative so that we can survive for more (years).’
• According to Hollingsworth, maintaining a stable formation is the result of “discussions between us and a sort of resolution of certain differences”. Over the years we’ve spent quite a bit of time checking in on each other and making sure we still feel like brothers. This happened in the form of discussions between us; Sometimes we went to therapy, but honestly just taking a few breaks was helpful. Taking the time to live our own lives allows us to feel more whole when we return. We bring all these different styles with us so you kind of learn to be patient with each other and make room for everyone to be happy.
• “Lend Me a Hand” is the first album SCI has released in seven years – although there have been a few singles in between. Hollingsworth says the band wanted to make something that would be more easily accessible than some of their other albums may have been. “It wasn’t just me; we wanted to make an album that was our “American Beauty” or “Reckoning” or something like that, like the early Grateful Dead albums, which were song-based and more acoustic. I was tired of drum machines and (technology); let’s just do something that gets back to where we need to be, where fans remember us from years ago. So I think (the album) is the culmination of an era and this kind of approach: acoustic, mandolin, violin, but always with our own style.
• Hollingsworth adds that SCI researched and worked on other elements for “Lend Me a Hand.” “There are a few (Michael) Kang songs and a Jason (Hann) song that didn’t make the album, so it would be cool to start working on another album or singles. We want to let this album breathe for a minute and then come back to other things. And we’ll also take some time next year, before we launch into something else.
String Cheese Incident performs as part of the Outlaw Music Festival at 5:55 p.m. Friday, September 22 at Pine Knob Music Theater, 33 Bob Seger Drive, Independence Township. Willie Nelson & Family, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. and Particle Kid also perform. (313)471-7000 or 313Presents.com
Eminem Provides Extra Fuel for 50 Cent’s Final Ride at Pine Knob
Duran Duran Puts a Current Twist on Past Glories at Little Caesars Arena
Old Dominion celebrates local ties at Little Caesars Arena
Rapper Paradime returns to recording with his first new album in 12 years
