Don't call it a comeback. String Cheese at Rothbury.

I guess dreams really do come true. Do you remember all of the rumors floating around at last year’s Rothbury festival? About how every member of The String Cheese Incident was there with their respective side projects, and they were going to reunite and perform an unannounced set on Saturday night? Well, Saturday night came and went, and once again we were taught a valuable lesson on why we shouldn’t buy into rumor and gossip. The reality of the situation is, every member of the Incident is in a really good place now, playing music and enjoying a period of subtle celebrity, they way it used to be with String Cheese. In way, one would have to wonder why they would want to get back together. Apparently the answer to that question is an easy one. Location, location, location.

Alright. I know it‘s not really that simple, but in all seriousness, this year we don’t have to wonder if we’ll be seeing The String Cheese Incident at Rothbury. We know we will. It says so right on the lineup. Is it going to be a big show? I think so. How big? Well let’s take a look at what String Cheese has been up to since they took an indefinite hiatus from playing together, and why they would choose to do just one solitary show at Rothbury, rather than a summer reunion tour like that other band.

First there’s Keith Moseley, the bass player. Keith was one of the four founding members of the band, and played on their first studio release, Born on the Wrong Planet. He wrote and sings several of the band’s most famous songs, including Joyful Sound and Black Clouds. These days, he’s laying down the low end for a number of side projects. Perhaps his most notable release post-Cheese has been with Keller Williams, Jeff Sipe, and Gibb Droll. The band is affectionately known as Keller Williams and the WMDs, for the their last names. It seems like Moseley is content to play it cool on the side lines. After all, he is a bass player, and he does his best work when he is surrounded by other talented musicians. The Kellar connection is natural, as SCI basically helped discover and promote Kellar during his early years of touring. In fact, Cheese has been instrumental in helping new bands establish themselves within the jamband community. New Monsoon, Umphrey’s McGee, and Yonder Mountain String Band owe a lot of their success to the way String Cheese unabashedly promoted their protégés. Moseley is playing a supporting role in bands that continue to evolve, so he’s happy and accounted for.

Next is Kyle Hollingsworth, not one of the founding members, but certainly a crowd favorite. Everyone loves a Kyle song. Kyle was added to the group on keys following Born on the Wrong Planet. It’s appropriate that his first recorded appearance was on a live album, The String Cheese Incident Presents a String Cheese Incident, as his presents definitely added a beautiful new element of depth to their exciting live shows. He was born to front his own band. The formation of The Kyle Hollingsworth band was inevitable. The thing that he has taken from his experience with Cheese is his penchant for the bouncing groove and overall positive attitude. One may argue that it was these elements that made up the very spirit of a Cheese show. The boy still has it in him, and he’ll have his own set at Rothbury to prove it.

What can I say about Michael Kang that hasn’t been said before? He’s an unprecedented talent, and a driving force in the group’s improvisational jams. He’s happy just to have the chance to play his instrument for an audience. He’s been busy in his post Cheese career, sitting in with virtually any jamband that would have him. His best work has been with Panjea, a band he founded with Chris Berry. He also seems to blend in well when he plays with fellow Cheese alum Eoto.

Eoto. Haven’t heard of them yet? I think I’ve seen the drumming duo of Michael Travis and Jason Hann play as a side project more than I saw them when they were with Cheese. Instead of the bluegrass sounds of the band’s early years, they’re employing a dance friendly sounds using an electronic looping dub approach. If it weren’t for the electronically tinged Cheese album Untying the Not, this shift would surprise me. I’ve been backstage with these guys when they’re just hanging out. Like Kang, they’re happiest when they’re on stage. Hann was added to the band much later than the others, in 2006, and his addition perhaps signals the end of the bluegrass era Cheese. His chemistry with Travis is legendary, and I’m glad these two are as successful as they are.

Finally there is Bill Nershi, the man that facilitated the split of the band when he announced that he would leave the group in 2007 to pursue other projects. His primary focus after SCI has been the Emmitt Nershi Band, a group he formed with Drew Emmitt from Leftover Salmon, another Colorado bluegrass outfit that called it quits a few years ago. Theirs is a sound that is reminiscent of the heavy bluegrass from the Incident’s humble beginnings. It’s also a sound that was missing from the old groups recent releases, like Outside Inside. It’s not impossible to think that Billy Nershi wasn’t happy with the direction that the band was headed. The truth of the matter is that Emmitt and Nershi have a fantastic chemistry together, and their live show is fantastic. Who am I to cast judgement? I’m sure he had his reasons for leaving Cheese, and the band went out on a positive note with their final run at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. Or did they?

Am I the only one that remembers that lawsuit SCI had filed against Tickemaster, alleging the monolithic company had a stranglehold on the ticket distribution services. This happened once before, Pearl Jam attempted to sue the company in the mid 90’s, to an equally unsuccessful outcome. I argue that this was the turning point for the String Cheese Incident. The guys have always been extremely independent when it comes to their music. They released their first album by founding their own record label, SCI Fidelity. Later, they signed others to the label like Keller and Umphrey’s. They even had their own ticket distribution ring. As the marquee names of the jamband community began dropping like flies, both Phish and Widespread Panic announced they would both be taking lengthy hiatus’ early in the decade, the group was forced into a headlining role that I’m completely sure they were comfortable with. I mean, I know that they loved playing to as many people as they possibly could, but as the crowds grew, so did the size of the venues they were playing. This is where ticketmaster reared it’s ugly head, hoping to make money off of the band’s success. With their ridiculous contracts with some of the nation’s largest venues, I can understand why Cheese would get frustrated by their new growth. They seemed to avoid it by sticking to what they know, playing summer festivals and minor league ballparks with other jambands. Still, things were never really quite the same after that.

So they’ve all found success with their other projects, and their following hasn’t diminished in the least, it has only fragmented into smaller groups. They’re playing smaller, more intimate venues, they way they used to when they first got started. Why get back together now?

Well, because Rothbury is different. Large festivals like Rothbury offer artists the chance to do something special. Instead of putting up with the hassle of a reunion tour, they can play one festival and call it good for the entire year. If you miss it, then you missed out. That’s just the way it goes. That seems to be the theme of this year’s Rothbury festival, as The Dead also announced the festival would be their only date for the entire summer. It seems that bands, as well as the fans, have come to view Rothbury as the summer destination, a classic in the making. I’m sure that diehard “Incident kids” will have the rumor mill churning months after the last note has been played, but I can’t imagine a full blown tour is in the works. For the time being, get your butt to Michigan, as this year’s Rothbury festival is, by default, guaranteed to be the Cheesiest.