Bill Nershi: Salmon & Cheese, Unplugged

i miss cheese!!!!

I think Bill Nershi would have enjoyed SCI a lot more if he took more molly.

I know cause Billy Nershi told me so! Those Camp Zoe shows they mentioned were part of Schwagstock 38. That was my best fest of 2008. Night 2 is on iclips - check it out, it's awesome. I'm real glad that Emmit Nershi Band is coming back to Nashville for NYE and I'm looking forward to their new CD. Here's to more SCI-family fests at Camp Zoe in 2009!

Yeah, drugs make you cool. Hoodoo, you are the lamest of the lame!

Nershi's the man! And so is Drew Emmitt!!

Nershi you are the man. I was upset at first, but I understand now. Hope to see you out in California sometime soon! I hope the "when" is sooner then later. VIVA LA QUESO!!!

"roller coaster got to roll to the bottom if you want to climb to the top again"

Bring on the Cheese! I'm Itchin' for an Incident!

Well, as an old time SCI fan, I personally would like for them to play again, but I'd like to see it go towards the acoustic/bluegrass direction as it was when they began. Don't get me wrong, I dig what EOTO is doing to, but I listen to Born on the Wrong Planet and Outside Inside far more than anything else they put out - studio CD that is. And really, the Breath CD with Kdub is by far one of my absolute favorites. Nothing like a Keller Incident - and I've seen a few. I would like to see Emmitt Nerishi band. Haven't yet. Also, excellent article.

hell ya snowtofall! bring it!!!!!!

"Eventually I'm sure we're going to play some more music. It's just like "when" we don't know yet."

If both Phish and these guys eventually are both touring again, I'll be one happy dude.

Emitt Nershi band is awesome BTW. Saw them at Horning's Hideout this year. IMO they put on a better show than YMSB at that event.

I only got to see cheese on one occasion. Unfortunately my first was their last.

although I'm thankful for the epic awesomeness I was apart of at Red Rocks,

I now know that I need mo' Cheese!

Ahhh i miss em.....an it sucks, cause i was way into all their sounds....bluegrass, electronic, reggae.....you name it

Don't me mad... I'm just being honest. I don't really dig the electronica without the molly. So why would Billy?

Looking forward to Emmit-Nershi on Fri. for sure....Should be a good time.

nershi's the man, fuck you hoodoovodoo. sorry for the negativity but man.

billy doesnt need molly. Just strait tequila or wiskey.

long live bluegrass.....electronicas alright though.

i just hope everyone has their fun, and gets back together when the time is right. They will rock it then.

you dont need drugs to enjoy music.

Emmitt Nershi in 2012!!!

too bad my last cheese show was a DUD. the first night of the run at fox theater in ATL. the most surprising thing???

the whole upper area was empty!!! that was really weird.

the one before it was good though. knoxville 2006.

I loved their light show, I loved the different styles of music,

I love how they would build up some songs into a crazy frenzy, with the lights going off, and such. It was good entertainment.

^ was that the show where they played the whole Born On The Wrong Planet album? Thanksgiving last year right? thats one hell of a good show imo! one of the best that year.

SCI 2010!

Word Nersh, i was a big fan until the "electronica"(if that's even what you could call it) happened. It's cool if other bands like sts9 do it cause that's their thing- but when cheese started copying it I lost interest and their shows lost their real Energy. Back to the basics boys- and what was Up with Kenny G playing percussion for them the last few years?? Lame

I was born and raised in Steamboat Springs...and I will always love The Cheese anyway it's sliced! I highly highly recomend seeing the Emmitt Nershi Band if you have not yet...... truly amazing....I think Drew's vocals are easily my favorite aspect of the colab.! Peace, Good Health, & , Prosperity to The Cheese, The Cheese Heads , and Our Families!

Hoodoo your a funny dude!

Excellent interview. Would love to see Cheese play a few more times, but if they weren't or aren't feeling it then I don't want them to tour. When they play and they all are with it, then they are awesome. I went to the Camp Zoe shows right before Red Rocks and they were amazing, plus the land kicked ass too. Swimming in a river while having a few drinks before the show was badass. If they get back together, I want them to play there again, despite that they had roadblocks right outside as soon as you left. See ya in Nashville on NYE!

Life just aint the same without the Cheese. Billy...come play more shows in ATL, and this time NOT in the middle of the week. Some of us have jobs you know.

BSC @ ZOE had some great acts. I wish I could go back to that time and space...

miss the cheese a ton -- saw emmitt-nershi band at spring hookahville last year & besides the railroad earth set, i thought it was the 2nd best set of the entire weekend -- i can however do w/o homeslice -- nersh's wife just isn't my thing -- the tone of this interview makes it sadly sound like sci will not be getting back together anytime soon -- but i guess never say never.

Damn, what I wouldn't give for Emmitt-Nershi to hit NYC. I'm just glad I was fortunate enough to see SCI once before they split. October 2006 at the Oakdale in Wallingford, CT, with Yonder opening for them. It would've been cool to have seen them earlier when they were a little less electric, but a hell of a night nonetheless.

Good read. Billy is such a genuine guy and I'm glad he's content playing the smaller clubs and going back to his bluegrass roots. It would be nice to catch some SCI down the road though.

Ive been loving cheese for a long time now and me personally, I liked the way they were throwing a little electronic music into their shows. Those Big Summer Classic shows were amazing.

I was always disappointed by how Cheese's jams never really peaked. Rather, they just jammed for a while and then got back into the song.

Your'e my boy blue....I mean Bill!!

The beauty of Cheese was the balance. To me, a good night was when all of the parts blended into a winding speedway...from bluegrass to electronica to mind control funk. I hope they return, but only if they are all in!!! I went through this.."the older stuff was better" and "if you had seen them 5 years ago.." shit with the Grateful Dead. Thinking like that gets you nowhere and causes you to miss the beauty of the present. Long live Cheese. Long live Billy....HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Got to love Billy! Jammed Jellyfish with Drew @ The String Summit this past summer gave me chills (and is now) nothing better than a little cheese tune @ Hornings!! Long live Billy/SCI/& Hornings

Come on back boys! I'm happy I got to catch the last 4 shows at red rocks, and I'll be even happier when I get to catch the return.

Willydog.....that is right on. I was really digging that new sound because with the addition of that you could hear like five different genres of music in one night all blending together. Long live the Cheesus!! Man I miss those boys!

"I went through this.."the older stuff was better" and "if you had seen them 5 years ago.." shit with the Grateful Dead."

Well said Willydog. I personally loved how the band expanded and experimented. It made it all the more special when they did things play an unannounced acoustic set with Railroad Earth like they did at the end of summer '06. I could appreciate both. Another reason I liked them branching out is because frankly, while I enjoy bluegrass, I get tired of it. Take Yonder for example. I love their music, but I get bored with the same old sound show after show. SCI was never, ever the same. They might have jammed in generally the same places in their songs, but the jams were never the same. I think it's kind of a shame that people wanted to force such a dynamic band into such a rigid little box. I also think it's a shame that Billy seems to have bought into that sentiment, maybe not all the way, but at least a little bit from his words. But, he says they'll play together again, and I hope that day comes soon.

Its good to see Billy happy. In addition to the Emmitt-Nershi band and Honkytonk Homeslice, he has also been playing with a bunch of the local bluegrassers. He played a few gigs with Jeff Austin and Eric Thorin as a trio. He also played at the Boulder Theater as an opening act to Spring Creek with KC Groves (from Uncle Earl), Ben Kaufman and Old Time Dave Talmadge. So, he has been keeping himself really busy playing the kind of music he really loves to play. If you don't know some of the muscians I mentioned, check out www.redstoneradio.com. This station plays mostly colorado bluegrass with a little cheese and other stuff mixed in.

Thank you billy now we have something to look forward to.summer of 09?

Big Summer Classic was way more happenin than the final redrock shows.

They were feeling it in the heat.

Big Summer classic was one of the best 3 night runs ever

Awesome interview. Good to hear from Billy.

Streaming SCI 24/7! http://www.stringcheeseradio.com

As far as I'm concerned keep the Cheese off the road for a while. It wasn't just the bluegrass/electronica divide, the music was STALE! Everyone knew it but only Billy had the guts to do something about it.

Thanks for the hope Billy. I can not wait until you guys get back together. I love all sounds that come out of the SCI. The bluegrass is awesome but it is also fun to throw in some other sounds. On the Emmitt-Nershi Band, I agree a must see. They are really good.

The best thing about SCI was that they incorporated seemingly disparate styles of music so well. "Rivertrance", which many would consider a seminal tune in their lexicon, is the perfect amalgamation of a Celtic/Bluegrass melody with a Funk/Trance instrumental. The true SCI experience was only manifesting itself more in their last few years. It would be a disservice to the band and the fans to limit themselves to playing only Bluegrass, even though Born On The Wrong Planet already displayed their interest in Funk, Salsa and other genres. The notion that they began as a Bluegrass band is misinformed, because the first album presents music other than Bluegrass, and the Bluegrass played is far from purist in nature. That being said, SCI my favorite band besides The Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd, and I am always happy to hear about any of the band members current musical endeavors.

Billy SHOULD play bass in ENB. I'd much rather see Tyler flatpickin' for this band. He's faster, cleaner, and generally more sober than Billy is these days.

I need some cheese, please. SCI has had a huge impact on my life and shaped my musical interests. was such a sad day to hear they planned to break it off, but i also can see that billy has done what he felt in his heart and thats probably the most important thing. I literally just shed a tear...

'it's going to be a bluegrass band' = music to my ears

F*ckin' A man!

cheese and rice! will billy ever come to California again?

i think hoodoovoodoo is the only person on here making sense

Big summer classic 07 best three nights of my life.cheese,yonder, and drew Emmitt for steam powered airplane was just classic.

I saw B. Nershi/H.Homeslice at SkiJam in Steamboat Springs 2 winters ago. There were a lot of bluegrass bands that weekend...plus some great rock n roll bands. Whenever Nershi/Homeslice playey...the energy dropped, and whenever Nersh "sat in" with some of the other bands...the energy dropped considerably. Yea, he was in his element playing acoustic guitar with bluegrass muscicians, and happy...but very, very mellow. He was quoted in the Steamboat newspaper saying the reason he quit SCI was because they had become "too psychedelic"...he formed Homeslice so he could get back to his roots. If he says,"...yeah, I have the DVD, but haven't checked it out" tells me he's not very psyched to get back together with SCI...he's over it. Thank God he didn't try and "sit in" when Rose Hill Drive played...they rocked the place down!

Rainbow Serpent said it best

I've seen SCI about 50 times and one thing I must say is that Billy always had a knack for ruining songs. The band would be in the middle of a sick jam and then Billy would just start obnoxiously screaming really stupid stuff into the microphone. I like SCI as much as anyone but Jesus... even the rest of the band looked rather perturbed during these moments. I met the guy once also, and he wasn't such a nice guy.

Emmitt-Nershi Band is such a good band. Enjoy it while they still play intimate venues but an incident is a brewing...

Thanks ao1. I appreciate that.

The Troll is out from under its bridge! DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!

Billy is the Man! and Emmitt rocks the house, but cheese must return at some point, just aint the same without the good ol shoeless mountain boys

everyone misses cheese but Nershi is right, the band was changing it's sound and it would be great if they could get back the old cheese sound and not the new roll you face off sound. Either was Nershi is still playing some top notch music with some great musicians! Hope he heads out to the east coast sometime!

I don't see the need for Billy bashing. Billy is actually a pretty funny, nice and gracious guy. I can't tell you how many artists I have seen that have been a little out of it at times on stage. Hell, I've been a little out of it on stage and at shows. I think its pretty ironic that some jambase people think they don't live in glass houses and can go ahead and throw stones.

I don't miss the 'group hoots'. They are pretty gay. Cheese is a million times better with the sass.

I have enjoyed SCI in their various iterations- not generally blown away, but appreciation. I have yet to see Emmitt-Nershi, but will. I have one question, and please do not take this as Billy bashing. I always considered him an unexceptional guitarist, not nearly on the same level of either typical high-end 'grassers or jam artists. There has been no mention of this, yet I know many musician friends who feel the same way. There is far more to the presentation than the playing, and he obviously brings other qualities to the table- and seems like a hell of a guy to have a cold one with. No disrespect meant. Am I way off base?

Drew Emmitt is tits! Good to have Nershi join them.

Hornings 2012...

how do i get the red rocks dvd

ya i need a copy of the red rocks show too, that was too sick

hoodoo, no offense but u sound rediculous.. read or listen to any interviews with the band and they all unanimously agree, with the exception of nershi that cheese was the strongest it had ever been when it disolved. and they also agreed that its fine nershi wants to go his own way. so if ull check with ne cheesehead, even if they didnt dig the electronic direction, i think u wont find too many that agree with u tht the band is "stale."

jaimee and hoodoo, "roll ur face off music?" i could and have enjoyed a number of cheese shows sober or almost sober and a number them the opposite. im sure that goes for a lot of the fans out there, but i danced my ass off at each show and whether i was sober or not certainly didn't decide which shows have been my favorites.

i live two hours away from Camp ZOE the locale of Big SUmmer Classic and his recent jam with his Cheese buddys, i kick my self everyday for not going regardless of my reasons. I Really Want that red rox dvd

THEY WILL BE BACK FOR SURE. DO YOU WANT SOME CHEESE TO GO WITH THAT WHINE?

Hmm. the 'pressure' of making a setlist? the 'pressure' of big show expectations? I can see that when Peak would get involved during Halloween, Sea of Dreams, Hornings. Extra prep, rehearsals etc. But setlists?

"setlists are a thing of the past" I doubt he's talking about writing 7-8 songs down on paper. a fly on the wall shared his tapes of the pre-show band meeting about what to play.

BN: "Ok, how about we go acoustic first set"

Keith: "I'm with Bill"

Travis: eyes closed, swinging head back and forth, "techno"

Jason: grinning ear to ear, "thanks for the paycheck guys"

Mike: "What about some music from the last century Bill"

Keith: "I'm with Mike on that one"

Kyle: "Yeah Bill, I got my kyles corner kids to keep happy. Molly and acoustic Chili Dawg just dont do it for them"

Travis: "No acoutic, no bluegrass, techno"

Mike: "lets put it to a vote" Acoustic? Bill, and Keith, is your arm up or down?

Keith: Both

Mike: One and a half votes for acoutic. Hey Bill,check out my nnew screen saver on my laptop. Aren't the fishes cool.

Bill: "real cool mike real cool. How do you turn that thing on?"

Mike: "Votes for contemporary progressive techno-jamtronica?"

1.2.3.4 Keith, is your hand up or down? Both? ok, bill the vote is 4 and a half to 1 and a half...motion for an acoustic set has been defeated. Progressive techjamtronica wins the vote. lets pick two or three tunes and play them for 25 minutes or so. Kyle, like my new hat?

Kyle: "great Mike great. good thing bill blocks my vision most of the night. I want to go to my corner. when do i get to go to the corner?

Mike: "Kyle, have you looked in the mirror lately, who dresses you? BN, keep us seperated, Ok?

Bill: I dont like the direction we are going.

Travis: Bill you want to go backwards. the future is techno (swings head)

Bill: this is my band dammit.

Kyle: Bill, there was a day when you were the man,no question about it. And we owe you forever for leading us. but you know, we have grown as musicians and we can carry our own weight now and then some.

Bill: anybody can push buttons, you shpongle-heads..what happened to old fashioned songcraft, writing, melody, harmony, meaning, emotion?

Travis: Techno Bill, techno. just set ears to repeat, and every 32 to 64 bars, we'll slip a little change in there, keep the kids from falling asleep.

Mike: Bill, yeah, where has the songwriting gone. Your house party where you played us the whole Honkytonk album three times..that was painful, bill, and I'm not talking about Jillians voice.

Bill: alright enough, lets get this setlist done. mike, its your turn to pick first, and then I get second and third pick.

Mike: "Bumpin Reel

Keith: Nice call mikey, nice call

Bill: " you fuck, i knew that was coming. Fine. I'll see your reel and call you with a "Farther" and raise you with a Big Shoes.

Jason: I'm all smiles

Mike: well, Bill that should help beer sales. The idea is to get them fired up, you know, dancing. and are we going to jam out farther for once? Its kind of a momentum killer.

Bill: why do we have to trip everything out?

Mike: because it puts butts in the seat, Bill. they dont pat these kids down to find Wild turkey bottles, they are on hallucinogens,, we want them swaying around like travis and smiling like Jason.

Kyle: farther is tough enough, but Big shoes right behind it...sorry bn,but i'm going to the corner for Shoes, wrap up those deep lyrics as quick as you can and let me get busy

Travis: Kyle, we'll take care of the pace thing, are you suggesting a techno jam in the center of Shoes. i like the idea, more techno, it is the future (tilts head back)

Kyle: yeah, i have some gizmos i want to try

Mike: yeah,lets do that, my laptop can make some serious noise, i dont even have to touch it.

Bill: are we still musicians i am confused

Kyle: of course, but with techno, we can take the lamest song and bust it out for twenty minutes. Bill these kids need three three and a half hours of music before they come down. You dont have the chops anymore, thats why you have been getting anxious before the big events. Too many flops bill. we played to larger audiences in 2001. Now we play to half that size. Paycheck bill, paycheck. How many 'me and my uncles' could a guy take. Thats how your hillbilly tunes are being thought of. the techno spices things up.

Bill: fuck this democratic thing. how did i ever agree to this. why didnt I try the molly when you offered it to me.

Mike: you did try it, but I think you and Jack were a little too close that night and you heaved it up.

Bill: bullshit mike, that little pill made my stomach uneasy, thats why the chunks flew.

Mike: whatever. keith, Joyful sound again

Keith: "check, mike"

Kyle: Naive, way back or close eyes" if you even mention 45th of november, you get nothing.

Keith: good call mike

Bill: do naive, kyle, i can be heard on that one.

Kyle: ok bill ok naive for me

Mike: alright desert dawn with extra laptop effects for me 20-25 minutes should cover the set

Travis: dig you mike dig you.

Bill: fuck mike, what the hell am I supposed to do for twenty minutes

Mike: strum bill strum we have it covered. now, guest artists for second set..I vote bassnectar

Bill: no one named flamers on my stage, you got it. del mccoury or billy connigan or bela fleck..if you bassnectar me again, i'm bringing out scott law and forcing a guitar war on you. he'll squash your fidddle playing ass

Mike: i'll just turn my back to you guys lie i did at hornings, and then when you dont suspect it, I'll swoop over and shred him off the stage.

Bill: this is bs, i'll be at the bar. this setlist stuff is too much pressure

mikelosethelaptop - That was hilarious! LMFAO

AWESOME post. Purely satirical and over the heads of all these expanded conscious freaks on this board. Get LIVES PEOPLE! If your gonna say something on here make it interesting at least. I only read the ones who get all the thumbs down on these boards for entertainment.

mikelosethelaptop------ Hands down one of the top three funniest posts I have seen on jambase. congrats to you sir. I have spent time with travis and jason, and have met billy and jillian at the homeslice hoedown in jackson and quite honestly I think they would find that post funny. AHHHH sweet relief from the constant bitching on this sites boards. uuummmm hornings 2010? anyone?

Big Summer Classic was amazing. I went to the one at WestConn in Connecticut, the stage was in the pond and by the end of the night heads and musicians alike were hopping in. Please bring it back!

mikelosethelaptop im literally laughing my ass off...that was hilarious..finally a quality response on this website

^^freaking brilliant

Dear cheese,

please come back and take your tour rat w00ks away from the shows of QUALITY electronica bands.

thx

Im so glad I made the 1800 miles drive for the BSC 08.....Cheese threw down soo hard and I cant wait for another Incident!!!!!

I miss you string cheese!

Ajohnson! Who cares how many dead shows or phish shows you've seen! String cheese is one of the greatest jam bands to be around. Why would you even waste your time commenting with that negative stuff.

Ajohnson, for being such a Deadhead, it seems you have the exact opposite view of SCI as everyone in the actually Dead family. From Mountain Girl to Bobby, The Dead family are huge fans of SCI and consider them to be one of the only bands to carry the torch for GD and what they created.

more cheese please! forget the please now now now!!!! we miss all you boys its not the same seein all you individually:(

I think this should put to rest all the different views on why string cheese disbanded. I talked with Billy for a little while when he and Drew played Athens not too long ago. He's very down to earth and extremely friendly, he seems to really enjoy what he's doing right now. People can think what they want about string cheese and say what they want about the direction it was going, but those guys are so talented and extremely respected by the other bands in the jam scene. I personally liked almost everything they did and find it hard to believe that people say their jams are lame and don't do anywhere. The diversity you got out them was incredible as were the shows. Everyone on here gets so obsessed with what band is better than the other, but honestly it should just be about who you like. I like Phish as well who are generally regarded as the most talented jam band, which i agree with, but I like string cheese just as much because of the sound of their music. Comments from guys like ajohnson just seem ridiculous to me. Keep it going Billy, hope to see string cheese back out there someday.

Good article and interview :)

Thank you Billy for everything you do

i totally agree with the nershi...at the end, i would really look forward to some cheese bluegrass rather than electronica! state bridge-yarmony grass 2007, one of the best nershi sets i've seen. anyway...i love/miss me some cheese...those were some great times!

I never did care for SCI, in fact until this summer I did not know who Billy Nershi was. Then I went to the Yonder Fest in June then the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Fest in August and I went to one of the late night jam sessions and Billy was the 2nd musician there and stayed to the very end, 3 solid hours. He knew lots of tunes, even did a Beatles tune, and I found him to be a genuinely warm friendly guy. I just wish the Emmitt Nershi band can find their way to the Northeast sometime soon!!!

i gotta agree with hoodoo. i got into them around 2001. 2002 was probably my favorite tour. SICK reggae and funk goin down. and yes nershi screaming random stuff was really corny. dont kid yourselves.

Moved to Colorado for LOS and Cheese. Stopped watching SCI alltogether (except CO shows of course) due to the wookie croud, drugs and trance music. Although a mouth full of Molly you can get through a full SCI show. they were an incredible bluegrass/folk/jam band at one time. the fact is Travis love techno now, BLuegrass was his passion. People change and this break up should show you just how committed Bill is to his music. i cant count how many times I looked on stage and just wondered "what do you think Bill is thinking about all of these teenage/early 20's spun out of their mind night after night really not even noticing the music or better yet, where the f'n stage was." I felt for him. he is the man!

Support Colorado Bluegrass!!!!!

i agree whole heartedly with billy.......does anyone recall bumpin reel over the summer when he walked off stage? that was the original evidence of the break up during the last tour......anyways i watched cheese for about a decade and the electronica is definently something the could do without......look at shows like winter carnival 05.......the "tranciest" part of the show was the part in round the wheel near the end......and on the last tour maybe 50% of each show was trancey bullshit, nevertheless its good for dancing.......btw hoodoo is right.....what do sts9 fans say when theyre out of drugs? THIS MUSIC SUCKS!

I love these guys! Miss the a lot. If you like these guys, check out Papa String Band.

www.myspace.com/thepapastringband

Really rockin' newgrass band!

Camp Zoe is still rocking 5 festivals a year!

www.campzoe.com

2009 FESTIVALS

APRIL 17+18, 2009 - SPRINGJAM 5

MAY 22+23+24, 2009 - SCHWAGSTOCK 40

JULY 31+AUG. 1, 2009 - SCHWAGSTOCK 41

SEPTEMBER 18+19, 2009 - SCHWAGSTOCK 42

OCTOBER 23+24, 2009 - SPOOKSTOCK 8