The String Cheese Incident’s Bill Nershi Previews Campout In The Pines

The String Cheese Incident will host the Campout In The Pines in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on August 15 – 16. The band will be joined at The Pines Music Park by the Del McCoury Band on Friday, August 15 and Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9) on Saturday, August 16.

Each day at the scenic Midwestern campground (where the Blue Ox Festival is held) will feature two sets by The String Cheese Incident. Attendees can expect a collaborative spirit among the performers.

“Look forward to a lot of interplay between and jamming between the bands each night,” The String Cheese Incident guitarist Bill Nershi told JamBase. “I think that’s where we’re gonna have the most fun.”

When pressed about how a sit-in might materialize, Nershi explained that there is an expectation among musicians when it comes to proposing a collab.

“The protocol is that you don’t ask the band to sit in with them,” Nershi revealed. “Those people are annoying.”

Sharing the stage together will keep the bands on the Campout In The Pines lineup active, while attendees coming to see them can occupy their days with yoga, on-site disc golf, hooping classes and exploring the densely wooded site. Additionally, food and beverages can be brought to campsites and the concert area over the easy-going weekend.

Campout In The Pines tickets are on sale now and include two nights of music, three nights of unreserved camping and parking. Reserved campsite upgrades and RV sites are also available.

Looking ahead to the collaborative weekend in Wisconsin, JamBase’s Andy Kahn spoke with Bill Nershi about Campout In The Pines. Their discussion follows below.

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JamBase: You’ve hosted events in Wisconsin before, several years ago now. You’ve played in the area many times. What would you say is your and the band’s relationship to the state of Wisconsin and even the greater Midwest region?

Bill Nershi: I always say, when the band first started touring, the first region that we had real success outside of Colorado was the Midwest. We developed a good fan base in the Midwest, and in Wisconsin — Madison, we were going to Madison and playing different shows out there.

But that became the strongest fan base early on and has always been a great place to go play, and I love that this is a full campout. It sounds like a nice camping area. So that’s when people can really kind of sink in and get the full effect of the weekend festival.

JamBase: You’ve hosted these smaller-scale, highly curated campout events around the country, really, over the years. Is that what appeals to you guys?

Bill Nershi: Going back to Horning’s Hideout [in Oregon] — I still remember the first time I went out in the Northwest playing Horning’s. We had a special kind of environment. It’s a longer event where people can be there multiple days and really relax and enjoy and get to know the festival grounds.

We like to do those things in different regions of the country where we feel like we’re outside and in a beautiful place, and everybody is ready for the music.

JamBase: I saw you in 2001 in Council Bluffs, Iowa with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Fela Kuti, and it was that same type of event, and that was 24 years ago, that same kind of thing. How do you like to go about picking the other bands that join you at these types of events?

Bill Nershi: I think we picked these bands — the Del McCoury Band and Sound Tribe Sector 9 — because we have a history with those bands and playing music with those bands, which spans a lot of years. With our 30th anniversary, we wanted to play some shows with our favorite bands over the years, like the Del McCoury Band.

Del McCoury was a straight-ahead bluegrass band – a traditional bluegrass band. [SCI bassist] Keith [Moseley] and I knew who that was, and maybe [SCI mandolinist/fiddler Michael Kang], knew that Del McCoury played with Bill Monroe and all his history, and we had heard a lot of his music, hard-driving bluegrass music.

So at the first show, when asked him to [play] — it was the first bluegrass band that wanted to do shows with us. It was a big step for them, the traditional bluegrass world … you’re not playing with jam. But these guys have a connection to the jam world through their history with Jerry Garcia.

We love Del for coming out and taking chances with a jam band and getting out and singing his songs. STS9 is awesome, and we’re psyched to play and jam with them. But I have a special place in my heart for Del McCoury, I must say.

JamBase: With the Del McCoury Band being steeped in traditional bluegrass and STS9 being in the jam-tronica realm — those are both styles that String Cheese swims in — did you intend to have those two types of disparate bands that represent those styles that find their way into your music so often?

Bill Nershi: I don’t think anybody planned it that way, but it shows the whole spectrum of what people in our band like. We’ve managed to be able to represent both of those sides in the show, and people don’t even blink.

You go from electronica into straight-ahead bluegrass, and maybe thanks to Billy Strings and a lot of great new bluegrass players for making some of the bluegrass more something for everybody, and not just bluegrass aficionados, people’s ears are open for that.

JamBase: When SCI hosts an event like this, what kind of environment do you try to create for the other musicians that are there?

Bill Nershi: Get everybody a comfortable place to hang out. A little bit of drinks and something in a trailer or something comfortable where they can hang out and play a little bit. Get them comfortable on the festival grounds – we’ll probably be talking to them before they come out about things and tunes.

JamBase: What do you like to do when you’re not on stage at something like the Camp Out in the Pines?

Bill Nershi: Sometimes I check out the vendors. I like to cruise through the crowd, but I go in disguise.

JamBase: Oh, really? Can you tell me what your disguise is, or would that give it away?

Bill Nershi: Well, obviously it would give it away — I’ll tell you a former disguise.

JamBase: OK.

Bill Nershi: The former disguise was at Horning’s Hideout when a few friends of mine wanted to cruise around through the crowd, but we – String Cheese – had just finished playing a show, so I didn’t want to just walk around.

So, a friend of mine had a Wookiee owl hat that kind of covered up the face a little bit that I put on and then I borrowed my friend Steve’s jacket and it said Steve on it across the chest, and I put the Wookiee hat on and we went out to the silent disco. So now your alternate nickname is Wookiee Steve.

JamBase: I guess we might see Wookiee Steve at Camp Out in the Pines then.

Bill Nershi: You never know when Wookiee Steve’s gonna go to the silent disco.

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[Sponsored article: Campout In The Pines is a JamBase partner.]