The String Cheese Incident have released their first full-length studio album in six years, and they’re doing it with a bang. Lend Me A Hand arrives on the cusp of the band’s 30th anniversary, which will officially take place on Dec 31, 2023, 30 years to the day since the band played their first show together.
Lend Me A Hand is 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 coalesced 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.
The band looks forward to watching the songs of Lend Me A Hand transform and take new shape in their live show as they gear up for a spot on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour—and for their official 30th-anniversary celebration later this year. “It’ll be fun to see how some of these three- or four-minute tunes open up and stretch out a bit,” says Moseley. “One of the things that’s helped us stay connected over the years is that shared love for the beauty of the creative process—we’re all still completely engaged in the pursuit of making the best music we can make, then giving the best live performance we can. If I had to guess, I’d say that the next album we put out will be 180 degrees from this one, because that’s how things tend to go with us. We just point the ship into the wind and head off onto the next adventure, whatever that might be.”
The String Cheese Incident On Tour
Sept 8 @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre | Raleigh, NC*
Sept 9 @ PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte, NC*
Sept 10 @ Virginia Credit Union LIVE! | Richmond, VA
Sept 14 @ Penn's Peak | Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept 15 @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center | Saratoga Springs, NY*
Sept 16 @ Xfinity Center | Mansfield, MA*
Sept 17 @ Forest Hills Stadium | Forest Hills, NY*
Sept 20 @ Rose Music Center at The Heights | Huber Heights, OH
Sept 21 @ Fallsview Casino Resort | Niagara Falls, ON
Sept 22 @ Pine Knob Music Theatre | Clarkston, MI*
Sept 23 @ Farm Aid at Ruoff Music Center | Noblesville, IN*
Oct 26-29 @ Suwannee Hulaween | Live Oak, FL
Nov 2-4 @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater | Austin, TX
Dec 29-31 @ The Fox Theater | Oakland, CA
