Jam bands and “Austin City Limits” were made for each other. The long-running PBS show has always been a haven for folk, bluegrass and country, but in recent years “Limits” has embraced nearly everything else, including jam bands.
What unite the artists are their boundary-pushing proclivities, and to appear on an institution like “Austin City Limits” is both an honor and a sign of artistic credibility. “What other music show on TV will give a band a whole hour to stretch out and be themselves?” producer Terry Lickona asks in the String Cheese Incident’s new DVD.
The disc, released last week ($17.95, New West Records), catches the Boulder-based group at its noodly best during a hot July night in 2001. The jam titans are a perfect fit for the program, switching styles and instruments with rhythmic regularity.
Though the band had been around for eight years at the time of the taping, it was its first national TV appearance. Singer and guitarist Billy Nershi seems at home in front of the friendly crowd, his laid-back demeanor belying his instrumental virtuosity.
In fact, if the band is known for anything, it’s flawless, dazzling musicianship. It helped invent the now-thriving “jamgrass” genre. But they’re more than the collision of the Grateful Dead and neo-hippie bluegrass. Jazz, reggae and even Celtic flourishes creep into the songs, unabashedly wanky and technical at times.
Kyle Hollingsworth’s phalanx of keyboards garners a good chunk of solo time in “Restless Wind,” a song indebted to “Workingman’s Dead”-era Garcia. Follow-up “Lost” goes downtown, grinding where the others glided. The lengthy “Black and White” stirs the crowd into a frenzy, hinting at the hermetically sealed musical utopia that is an SCI show.
Anyone who picks up this DVD will likely have seen the band live before, as that’s where SCI’s music really takes hold. But the intimate, affable atmosphere seems likely to draw in newcomers, as well. The only barrier is the band’s mannered body language, which does little to communicate its passionate playing. Close-up shots of Keith Moseley’s bass slapping convey more energy than any of the wide shots, which portray the members amiably bobbling around the stage.
The 5.1 Surround Sound mix is balanced and clean, immersing you in the frequently shifting textures. When Michael Kang scat-vocalizes during a solo, hammering on his guitar with intimidating ease, the benefits of the soundboard mix are crytal clear. When Nershi breaks a string on his acoustic guitar, the sound drops out, and the band hovers, allowing him time to quickly restring and slide back into the song.
The band’s deep love of traditional bluegrass is also apparent in the high harmonies, each member swallowing the microphone in pursuit of a tight, synchronized performance. Of course, they’re keeping the bluegrass tradition alive by modifying it with their own quirks – itself a grand and respectable tradition.
SCI may not be playing Colorado again until mid-November, but this DVD should tide fans over until then.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
