Boulder-based jam/bluegrass band String Cheese Incident – guitarist Bill Nershi, bassist Keith Moseley, violinist-mandolinist Michael Kang, drummer-percussionist Michael Travis and keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, all of whom sing – embraces the surrounding world that inspires it. The commentary doesn’t include percussionist Jason Hann, a recent addition to the band.
Kyle Hollingsworth on the movie “Mad Hot Ballroom:” This is perhaps the only good reality entertainment I have ever seen. I think it is because the film’s stars are children – none over 16 or so.
Kids don’t have the vanity to alter their behavior when being filmed like adults do. These cameras followed high school children through the highs and lows of a ballroom-dancing competition. How funny it was to see kids dancing the tango and the cha-cha, trying to move their hands and feet with the passion and grace that a mature dancer might embody; and how uplifting, and heart-wrenching, to see them react to the wins and losses.
Michael Kang on surfing: Surfing is one of my favorite forms of entertainment. And one of my favorite surfing trips ever was to G-Land off the southern coast of Java in Indonesia. Imagine a coral reef that is so alive that at low tide you can walk out onto it and see dozens of forms of life in the coral-reef ecosystem. Then there’s the wave, which has at least four to five distinct sections and is probably close to a mile long. Sitting in the crystal clear, 80-degree water, you can see all the way to the bottom, which isn’t that far below. On my 33rd birthday, I lucked out and scored perfect double overhead clean surf with only five or six other people in the water. Now that’s entertainment!
Billy Nershi on the book “1421: The Year China Discovered America,” by Gavin Menzies: I recently read this book, and I enjoyed it very much, mostly because it made me question everything I was ever taught in school. In the book the author researches old naval nautical maps to prove his theory that before any European explorers set out on any voyages of discovery, the Chinese had already been around the world and charted the journeys on various maps that proved America had been discovered long before Christopher Columbus landed on the continent. It’s fascinating to contemplate.
Michael Travis on Las Vegas: Las Vegas could be called the root of all evil because it represents the peak of money-worshiping. Still, it manages, at least in mind, to somehow sidestep this label because the buoyant fantasy nature of it all allows you to involve yourself in its entertainment without attaching yourself to it. Certainly, there are experiences I have had there that could not, would not, happen anywhere else on the planet.
Keith Moseley on the band Railroad Earth: Railroad Earth is one of my favorite new bands – at least new on my radar. I so appreciate its finely crafted songwriting and clever arrangements. The groove is relaxed yet heavy, and their lyrics are intelligent. It’s difficult to find that balance. Todd Scheaffer, the band’s primary songwriter, is one of the best in the genre.
String Cheese Incident, supporting its CD “One Step Closer,” kicks off its Big Summer Classic month-long tour with gigs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets at BigSummerClassic.com.
