Colorado quintet String Cheese Incident got its start playing tunes the band and the patrons liked at Rocky Mountain ski resorts in exchange for lift tickets. Through a strong work ethic, an eclectic set of musical backgrounds and a commitment to following a collective bliss, the band has, in just a few short years, risen to the level where its shows, including two dates this week at Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage, routinely sell out.
At the Wednesday night show, the Cheese were laid back, particularly in contrast to shows last Thanksgiving at the Vic, where members played as though their lives depended on it.
Opening with an easy funk shuffle, “Outside and Inside,” the band’s unusual instrumental textures were highlighted–with keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth doubling on runs on his electric piano and swelling chords from his Hammond organ, while multi-instrumentalist Michael Kang cranked out spicy leads on his electric mandola. The band’s other lead instrumentalist, acoustic guitarist Bill Nershi, handily held his own with his electrified cohorts, switching between bluesy single-note runs, bluegrass style flatpicking and bottleneck slide interludes.
Imposing drummer Michael Travis is a model of restraint, relying more on power than hot licks to spur on his colleagues. Bassist Keith Moseley also eschews flash, but his steady, loping lines readily anchor even the most complex transitions the band executes.
On Nershi’s “100 Year Flood,” Kang spun out some biting electric mandola leads before taking a chorus on his acoustic violin. The tune led into a long, meaty improvisation based on John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” Like many improvisations on Wednesday, this passage had melodic substance that provided an appropriate context for the hot licks.
The group’s musical tastes are eclectic, but the members eschew the temptation to blend their influences together into a formless musical stew. When Kang sang the reggae tune “Bigger Isn’t Better,” the band played the Caribbean grooves straight. When the Cheese does blend genres, as it did by making Vassar Clements’ “Lonesome Fiddle Blues” sound like it was played by Santana, the accents seem chosen with care and jell nicely.
The Cheese is building a nice career by pursuing whatever musical paths strike the players’ fancy. Judging by the ecstatic response they got from Wednesday’s capacity crowd, they are having no trouble convincing others to come along for the ride.
