The String Cheese Incident

In 2023 The String Cheese Incident released their first studio album in over six years, Lend Me A Hand. The new collection of songs showcases the full depth and character of their songwriting like never before, ultimately delivering some of their most intimate and emotionally potent material to date.

A poignant yet high-spirited reflection on love, loss and resilience, Lend Me A Hand 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.”