The String Cheese Incident are ramping up for their three-day New Year’s Eve celebration at Fox Theater in Oakland, CA Dec 29-31. This year marks a special milestone as the band also celebrates their 30th Anniversary together. The 30th Anniversary Incident on December 31 will deliver a deep-dive into the band’s storied, multi-faceted history together, musically weaving three separate decades of SCI together throughout three sets - one decade per set.
30th Anniversaries are typically honored with diamonds and pearls, and this anniversary will be no different. Those who join SCI on the New Year’s Eve deep dive will experience hidden treasures they’ve only dreamed of seeing bubble back to the surface, and fans should plan to dress for an aquatic soirée.
December 30th will see special guest appearances from longtime friends Peter Rowan and Tony Furtado.
2023 saw SCI release their newest album Lend Me a Hand - a poignant yet high-spirited reflection on love, loss and resilience, and emerged as SCI coped with such life-changing events as the sudden death of their close friend Jesse Aratow (a member of their management team for most of the band’s history). As they dreamed up a batch of songs firmly centered on their storytelling, the band joined forces with Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Waxahatchee), a producer whose distinct vision helped SCI to fully embrace the album’s rootsy simplicity.
“Every album’s a snapshot of the band at that moment, and this record turned out to be one of our most introspective,” says Moseley. “We were coming out of the pandemic and coming up on our anniversary; we’d lost someone who’s been an important part of our team for so long. All those thoughts and feelings coalesce into something that’s much more focused on the storytelling, and feels more like hanging out in the living room with us while we sing you some songs.” “Rather than trying to be flashy with the musicianship, our goal was to make sure nothing got in the way of the lyrics,” adds Nershi. “So even though we’re still a jam band at heart, all these songs can really stand on their own.”
Over the last three decades, SCI have built a devoted following on the strength of their kaleidoscopic musicality and commitment to leaving audiences awestruck. Known for an immersive live show that continually pushes into unexpected terrain, the Colorado-bred six-piece handles everything from bluegrass to dubstep to psychedelia with equal parts abandon and ingenuity—a feat that’s found them sharing stages with such wide-ranging artists as Lauryn Hill, Skrillex, James Brown, Billy Strings, Perry Farrell, Sheryl Crow, Zac Brown Band, and more. But in a departure for the band—Bill Nershi (guitar, vocals), Michael Kang (guitar, mandolin, violin, vocals), Keith Moseley (bass, vocals), Michael Travis (drums, vocals), Kyle Hollingsworth (keys, vocals), and Jason Hann (percussion, programming)—SCI’s eighth studio album trades all that genre-hopping for a stripped-back form of folk-rock.
