FM airwaves are filled with the sounds of nostalgia these days. Name a genre; it's easier (and perhaps more enjoyable) to play pick-the-influences than to search for anything truly original. R&B and hipster rock are both interminably bound to the years between 1975 and 1985, country is stuck in a decade-long holding pattern, and mainstream rock continues to pillage the vaults of the mid-'90s.
The String Cheese Incident is no different, save for the scope of its influences. On its recently released Untying the Not, the band juxtaposes turn-of-the-century Irish and Appalachian hillbilly music with circa-1972 funk jams and occasional modern jazz twists. A stylistic smoothie, if you will, held together by atypical rock instruments such as electric mandolin, accordion and violin.
Their ethos, similarly, recalls a long-ago time when bands, regardless of popularity, called their own shots while maintaining an intense loyalty to their fans. Until recently, SCI was making headlines with its protracted battle with Ticketmaster—which it won—over the exorbitant service fees charged to fans. Tickets are now sold online at www.sciticketing.com, but their cottage industry doesn't stop there; the band now runs everything itself, from merchandising, to its own record company, to partnership in a small travel agency.
And then there are the tours. Since String Cheese Incident formed in the tiny ski resort of Crested Butte, Colorado, in '93, the heavily improvisational group has become known for playing outdoor festivals (most notably the Telluride Bluegrass Festival), producing live CDs of every show, and allowing fans to record each one themselves.
"That's been kind of a success for us," explains Michael Kang, mandolin player and violinist for the group. "We've always believed fans should have access to our music. Our formula for success has always been just to get it out there."
Few current groups get the music out there like SCI, with more than 60 live albums released through their On the Road project. (An exact number is impossible to calculate, since there may be another album or two by the time this article prints.)
But one live show you won't hear them at from this year is the ill-fated Lollapalooza, of which SCI was a headliner.
Kang isn't too discouraged. "We've been touring for a long time so this isn't freaking us out. It's a shame the show got canceled because we were looking forward to getting together with these bands, and more than anything just trying to make a social statement." A friend of fest founder/former Jane's Addiction frontman/resident eccentric Perry Farrell, Kang goes on to detail how Lollapalooza was a notably political event, and its importance in this election year.
"Every artist makes some sort of commentary in the world, and we felt it necessary to join forces with like-minded people. Even though our musical tastes might be different, we're creating a statement about the togetherness we want to achieve going into this year's election." Kang adds that, even without Lollapalooza, they're still registering concertgoers to vote while on tour.
Despite his casual tone, the cancellation came at a bad time, less than a year after Untying the Not's release. The disc, described as the most critically praised in the band's catalog, was as much of a challenge to make as it was a test of fans' devotion. Kang admits that after ten years, change was due. "We were starting to turn over the same rocks," he says, "so we had to dig deeper as a band. Of course some fans, because it's different from anything we've put out before, don't know what to think about it, but I think it'll have longevity." Two years had passed since the release of Outside Inside, a similar hodgepodge of calypso, rock, salsa, funk, bluegrass and Afro-beat, though this one (produced, oddly enough, by ex-Killing Joke bassist Youth) takes the concept miles farther.
Monumental claims like "new era for the band" come easily to Kang, who brushes aside the stereotype of improvisational groups faring poorly in the studio. It's an attitude that, after a decade of extended jams every night, is undoubtedly hard to come by. Kang explains: "People say that if you create it in the studio, you should be able to do it live. And there are just some things you can't do that way." Multilayered effects, an abundance of guitars and spoken-word interludes, and yes, a healthy dose of the old-time bluegrass that String Cheese is known for all help the band both earn and shed the "nostalgia act" label.
Nostalgia or no, Kang says the band is looking forward only to the future. "We've only hit the tip of the iceberg, creatively."