The String Cheese Incident are celebrating 25 years as a band all year long.

Last Friday night, Matt Butler brought his Everyone Orchestra to Terrapin Crossroads. The band, whose exact makeup typically changes (with the exception of Butler) from location to location, consisted of Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident), Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits), Ross James (Terrapin Family Band), Robin Sylvester (RatDog), Sunshine Garcia Becker (Furthur), Zach Nugent (Melvin Seals & JGB), and Andrea Whitt (Zucchero Fornaciari). They also had played the night before with Dan Lebowitz (ALO) in Ross James’ spot. Most of the members had played in Everyone Orchestra at some point before, the exceptions being Nugent and Whitt.

The temperature was perfect, and there was an early start to the night with the leader in British funk, The New Mastersounds. The Wales Ambassador, Eddie Roberts and his boys took the stage and wasted no time at all. Their flavor of funk is a unique, intricate, classy guitar-heavy instrumental sorcery. On this night, they even added a horn section to join them. As a side note, once at an ARISE Music Festival press conference that I was leading, I unexpectedly asked Roberts why he thinks that the tiny area of Great Britain produces so much brilliance in music, art, literature, etc. It was an idea that always baffled my mind how an area the size of Kansas can make so much beautiful art. His answer was brilliant. He responded after a pause with, “Misery.” Everyone in the room got a laugh, and one of my life long-burning questions was revealed. When their set came to an end after only 45 minutes, Roberts thanked the crowd and said that it seemed short, but that was because they are so used to often playing for 3 hours plus.

The 6th annual Spread The Word Festival, showcased some of Colorado’s most diverse and eclectic talent, spanning from ferociously fast picking and heavy-hitting bass decibels, to smooth funky jams and everything in between. Spread across five stages, Denver’s Fox Street Compound morphed into a psychedelic playground for fans to enjoy artists, food trucks and tunes galore.

Z2 Entertainment is proud to present EOTO at the Boulder Theater on Saturday, July 11th, 2015. Tickets are on sale April 3rd for $25 general admission.

100% ALL IMPROVISED ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC FROM MICHAEL TRAVIS AND JASON HANN OF THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT

Drummer/percussionist Jason Hann of EOTO and the String Cheese Incident recently took time out his on the run touring schedule to speak with the Grateful Web’s John Schumm. Currently in the midst of EOTO’s multi-month spanning Outer Orbit Tour, the all-live improvisational electronic duo continues to enhance the audio and visual front they’ve helped revolutionize.

I wanted to interview a member from The String Cheese Incident not because I have their whole collection, because I’m a huge fan or even because I’d seen a show of theirs before. Instead, the main driving force for my choice was because SCI is a mainstay in not only jam music but really in the music industry as a whole. It seems there aren’t a lot of bands these days that can keep a cohesive sound for 20+ years. So I know there’s something special about this band.

With Lettuce and The Kyle Hollingsworth Band preparing to settle inside of my ears for the evening, things blasted off in an over-caffeinated wild turkey blitz en route to the Fillmore Auditorium. While the hall filled in, those on the rails waited patiently for the on-stage gospel to pour freely.

Between The String Cheese Incident’s impressive Hulaween performances at Suwannee Music Park, gearing up for what’s sure to be a spectacular three-night New Year’s run out in Colorado, not to mention EOTO’s seemingly non-stop touring schedule, it’s safe to say Jason Hann is quite a busy musician.

Few musicians in today’s world are as multi-talented and stand out quite like Michael Travis and Jason Hann. From their roots of The String Cheese Incident to countless side projects and guest appearances, these two drummers and friends are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be true musicians.