Bill Nershi

The String Cheese Incident has to be one of the most unique names in rock history. I read an interview where Michael Kang said something like, “and that’s how we got the worst name in rock history.” Odd name or not, The String Cheese Incident has been one of the most successful post-Grateful Dead Jambands. There are many things you can attribute their success to, and one of them is certainly the down-home, upbeat playing, singing and songwriting of Mr. Bill Nershi.

My first whiff of SCI was at the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA in the mid 90’s. The festival itself was a mysterious and wonderful event – tucked into a high alpine valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. By far one of the most bucolic settings I have seen in general, let alone for the backdrop for a rock concert.

I showed up a day after the festival had begun and was catching up on the goings-on over a few cold beers and a game of sloppy, Teva-driven hacky sack. The String Cheese Incident was the talk of the town. Moments later I stumbled into a “picking circle” where a few guys were trading songs and licks – turns out one of them was Bill Nershi.

I have always felt a certain connection with Bill Nershi as a musician – we sort of fill the same place in the musical ecosystem – short Singer/Songwriter. One thing that’s for sure though is that Bill can smoke me on the guitar. I felt a real sympathy for him and the rest of The String Cheese Incident when he decided to leave the band. I knew the variables and the potential heat he was feeling having pulled a similar exit strategy with Strangefolk.

In 2007, Assembly of Dust did a West Coast and Colorado run of shows with Honkytonk Homeslice – a bill composed of Bill Nershi, Jillian Nershi, and the great Scott Law. Scott and I recently realized (via Facebook) that we grew up in the same town. During this 10-day run we each played one set, and then a third set as a unified group. It was some of the most fun I have had playing music ever. It wasn’t always tight. It wasn’t even always good, but it was fun... every night. We all share a similar musical aesthetic, and it was easy both personally and musically. I am eager to do another run with Bill one day soon, and in the meantime I’m thrilled that he is lending some of his finger-licking licks to this record.