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Denver Post • March 10, 2004
String Cheese stretched thin by schedule

What with Jammy Award nominations galore and enough touring under their belt to qualify for part-time residences in at least 10 other states, the String Cheese Incident long ago conquered stateside jam culture.

And now, as the Boulder-based band preps for its annual Winter Carnival (Thursday through Saturday at the Fillmore Auditorium), its big night at the Jammys (March 16 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and www.jammys.com and its first European tour (kicking off March 19 and 20 in Interlaken, Switzerland), it's obvious they're ready for the attention.

"I'm looking forward to it, and I'm a little intimidated, too," said Billy Nershi, a songwriter and guitarist with the band. "We're playing 13 shows in 15 days, so it's not a pleasure cruise. It's us going out there trying to spread the word, because we had a couple great shows around London last time we were out there, but most of the places we're going to we haven't played before."

Going Euro is the next logical step for the crew, which defines its music as an "improvised eclectic mix of reggae, rock, African rhythms, bluegrass and jazz." String Cheese, along with the jam-band scene as a whole, is finally breaking into mainstream thought. With the impressive Bonnaroo festival, the many emerging talents within the scene and solid news outlets such as Relix magazine and Jambands.com, the scene is finally making the radar in the U.S. and Canada.
And Australia. And Japan, too, where String Cheese is returning for the third time in late April.

But although you'll hear String Cheese on KBCO and it's ubiquitous in certain Colorado circles, the band's blips on the radar are still faint.

"Its still such an underground network," said Nershi, "but this is cool that the Jammys are bringing it somewhat into the mainstream eye. And the more people that get the chance to hear this music, the more they'll understand that there are some really talented musicians and artists in the scene."

The Jammys started four years ago primarily as a reason to throw a party. But within the jams and the collaborations and the celebrations were awards that were given to jam scenesters, almost all of whom had been ignored by the Grammys.

"Most of this music isn't heard widely, but it should still be celebrated," said Peter Shapiro, the event's executive producer. "People are embracing and celebrating this kind of music, which is a little different than the 4 1/2-minute song you see on MTV or hear on the radio."

String Cheese is an ideal example of how jam bands persevere and succeed despite getting the shaft from the conventional industry.

Via rampant touring for 10-plus years, they made their own living without the help of MTV and, for the most part, radio. Via their record label, SCI Fidelity, they created their own legacy and maintained their musical integrity without the help/restrictions of a major label. And via their own ticketing system, SCI Ticketing, they are ensuring the long-term success and profitability of their careers.

And ticketing is a hot topic in Boulder these days. SCI Ticketing, formed by String Cheese and its management company, Madison House Inc., is suing industry behemoth Ticketmaster in Denver Federal Courts. The suit, filed last August, says Ticketmaster has an illegal monopoly on the ticket-selling industry in North America. The lawsuit is in a holding pattern, and the players are keeping quiet. All Nershi had to say was, "We're hoping that it's resolved soon," and a Madison House representative had no comment.

But the lawsuit hasn't taken away from the music.

"String Cheese is one of the premier bands in the scene," said Shapiro. "They're great guys and great musicians."

The band's biggest musical leap came late last year with the release of "Untying the Not." It was the least jammy, least bluegrass of the band's studio catalog, and it was met with some trepidation.

"I'm the biggest proponent of bluegrass music, but I still like the way it turned out," Nershi said. "Otherwise there was mixed reactions to it, because in some ways it's us, and in other ways we're doing a lot of different things that we haven't tried before, and the studio is a great place for that to happen."

The band wrote a lot of the music in the studio, and that gave birth to the new sound, Nershi said. But when it's carried over into the live show, it will again take on an entirely different life, especially in this week's shows, when the band will be joined by different openers each night - Mofro on Thursday, David Lindley and

Wally Ingram on Friday, and Vassar Clements on Saturday.
"We do it for ourselves more than anything else," said Nershi, "and if the audience that comes and listens is appreciative, then great."