Bill Nershi Archives - Bluegrass Today

The Hardest Part of Leaving

Pert Near Sandstone has announced an April 15 release for their next album, The Hardest Part of Leaving. The Minnesota-based outfit plans to make it available on CD, 180g vinyl, and digital download though their own label, Pert Near Music.

Nate Sipe is on mandolin and fiddle, Kevin Kniebel on banjo, J Lenz on guitar, and Adam Kiesling on bass. Andy Lambert adds a unique visual appeal to their live shows, providing a percussion through clog dancing and washboard.

They have set up a PledgeMusic campaign to allow fans to pre-order with a number of special incentives, and enable a 5% donation from all pledges to St. Stephens Homeless Shelter, started by a church in their hometown of Minneapolis. Pre-order pledgees will also have access to audio streams for all of the tracks from the CD in advance.

Based on the debut single, Hellfire, the music will again fall into the band’s particular niche, placing it somewhere in between bluegrass and old time, Americana and independent pop.

Pert Near Sandstone will spend the weeks before the CD hits touring with The Travelin McCourys and Bill Nershi. Not a bad way to push a new project!

Saturday DelFest update

We’ve just enjoyed back-to-back sets by Trampled by Turtles and the Emmit-Nershi Band. If the Turtles got paid by the note they could retire…that is some blazing bluegrass.

Emmit-Nershi is an interesting marriage of bluegrass royalty, Drew Emmit of Leftover Salmon and Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident are joined by Andy Thorn on banjo, Johnny Grubb (Railroad Earth) and today they added to their ranks Darol Anger (Psychograss and frequent addition to the Yonder Mountain String Band) on fiddle.

I’d never heard these guys, but they were amazing. In addition to songs from their recent release (New Country Blues) they played a great cover of Dylan’s Tangled Up in Blue (did they know his birthday was earlier this week?). Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) took a turn on stage for the final number off the new album, and to whet the audience’s appetite for the full RRE set next.

Not sure we’ll have a chance to upload pictures tonight….we’re afraid to leave the stage for fear of missing any of this evening’s acts: RRE, Del McCoury Band, and Warren Hayes Acoustic with “Special Guests.”

Any guesses? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Nershi-Law tour begins this weekend

Bill Nershi, he of String Cheese Incident fame, is embarking on a whirlwind tour along with Scott Law, starting on Monday (11/16) in Nashville. They’ll do 9 dates in 10 days covering Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Illinois.

They will perform as an acoustic duo, with both contributing on guitar and vocals. Nershi and Law recorded together in 2006 as Honkytonk Homeslice, along with Nershi’s wife Jillian.

Here is a taste of their show.

Van Ghost will open each show on the tour. You can details on all these dates on the Nershi-Law web site.

As The Crow Flies from SFTRB

The second album from the Songs From The Road Band, As The Crow Flies, in now available online. The band is a side-project for members of several bands based in North Carolina, the brainchild of Charles Humphrey III, bass player with Steep Canyon Rangers.

In addition to the Rangers, members of SFTRB are drawn from The Emmit Nershi Band, Shannon Whitworth and the Refugees, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Town Mountain, Super Grit Cowboy Band and The Grit Pixies. Pickers include Charles on bass, Mark Schimick on mandolin, Andy Thorn on banjo, Nicky Sanders on fiddle, and Sam Wharton on guitar. Vocalists are Robert Greer, Lance Mills and Shannon Whitworth.

Audio samples can be found on the band’s MySpace page. CDs can be purchased from CD Baby and downloads are available at iTunes.

Songs From The Road II sneek peek

Songs From The Road is a loosely-knit side project band that features members of such noted touring acts as Steep Canyon Rangers, The Emmit Nershi Band, Shannon Whitworth and the Refugees, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Town Mountain, Super Grit Cowboy Band and The Grit Pixies.

Their debut CD, Songs From The Road, was released in 2006, produced by Charles Humphrey III of Steep Canyon Rangers, who also played bass.

A second project is in the works, Songs From The Road Vol II – As The Crow Flies, is due on January 15, 2009. A download-only, three song EP will be released shortly featuring a sneak peek of material from the upcoming CD. It will be available from CD Baby and iTunes.

The lineup on the new CD has Charles on bass, Mark Schimick on mandolin, Andy Thorn on banjo, Nicky Sanders on fiddle, and Sam Wharton on guitar. Guest vocalists include Robert Greer, Lance Mills and Shannon Whitworth.

One song from As The Crow Flies can be heard now on the band’s MySpace and ReverbNation pages. The songs is Taxman, and the lyric is one that may grab the attention of a lot of folks in the US during an election year.

Taxman, taxman leave me alone.
Stop knocking on my door ’cause there ain’t noboby home.

Goodbye String Cheese – Hello Emmitt Nershi

Jambands.com is reporting that last weekend’s String Cheese Incident reunion show at RedRocks in Colorado would seem to be its last, and that it was surely the last performance with the band by guitarist/vocalist Bill Nershi. He has joined forces with jamgrass mandolin master Drew Emmitt, and formed the Emmitt Nershi Band.

Joining Nershi and Emmitt will be Tyler Grant on bass and Chris Pandolfi on banjo. Knowing of Chris’ solid commitment to The Infamous Stringdusters, I asked him whether his time with Emmitt Nershi was during time off from his main gig.

“I’m definitely doing the Emmit/Nershi thing on the side. If the ‘Dusters don’t have another lineup change for 20 years I will be thrilled.”

Live appearances for The Emmitt Nershi band will be posted on their MySpace page.