Hear The String Cheese Incident’s Stirring Ode To Late Friend/Manager Jesse Aratow ‘One More Time’

The String Cheese Incident unveiled the new single “One More Time.” Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth wrote the lyrics of the latest single from the band’s forthcoming Lend Me A Hand album about losing someone close to you, including memories of longtime SCI manager/friend Jesse Aratow. Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) crafted the song with Hollingsworth.

Lend Me A Hand arrives via SCI Fidelity on September 8. The Colorado-based sextet recorded their first new studio album in six yers at their SCI Sound Lab facility in Boulder. Producer/multi-instrumentalist Brad Cook worked with Cheese on the 11-song LP.

Aratow died suddenly of a heart attack on October 29, 2021 at the way-too-young age of 48. The music manager, agent and entrepreneur was a partner at Madison House. “Jesse was one of our original managers that joined up with us when he was living in Telluride; he helped promote one of our very first Telluride shows, I believe. He was with us starting in the mid-’90s, and he was just an integral part of the team as an artistic and business leader, and all-around spiritual leader, heroic person — just a very inspirational, great person to be around,” bassist Keith Moseley told Westworld in a new interview.

“Everyone that knew him, worked with him, just loved him. He was always able to spin positive into tough situations; his little catchphrase was ‘Keep the dream alive,’ and we’ve all got shirts and stuff with that now,” Moseley recalled. “He shockingly passed away from a heart attack, but there were no warnings at all and he was very young, so it was a really tough loss for the band and for management and for everyone who worked with him.”

Kyle Hollingsworth went into more detail regarding the genesis of “One More Time,” stating:

“‘One More Time’ was written on my ukulele sitting in the woods of Colorado. I love writing on instruments that I can’t really play, it opens up lots of new sonic territory for me. Lyrically it speaks of remembrance and memories of our friend and manager, Jesse Aratow, who passed in 2021. I asked everyone that knew Jesse to send me a few images and memories they had of him. Then I got together with Sam Beam from Iron & Wine and we crafted this song together. I feel like in the end it was a song for everyone who has lost someone, not to specifically about Jesse. This one’s gonna be hard for me to pull off live without crying.”

Stream “One More Time” below:

The String Cheese Incident have yet to perform “One More Time” live. Up next for the band is a series of home state concerts including two nights at the idyllic Dillon Amphitheater and three at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.