#michael kang

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The String Cheese Incident - “Ramble On” (Live, Feb. 8, 2025)

Keeping the basic structure intact, the String Cheese Incident wisely lowered the key of “Ramble On” to make Michael Kang’s unenviable job a bit less daunting.

Tasked with not only singing Robert Plant’s role on SCI’s Feb. 8 Led Zeppelin cover in Atlanta, Kang also was charged with playing Jimmy Page’s parts. He handled both jobs deftly; not trying to copy, but to create an homage in his own style.

Drummer Michael Travis and percussionist Jason Hann took a more exacting route, anchoring Kang and the rest of the band in Zep’s original pitter-pounder feel.

This “Ramble On” probably shouldn’t have been so successful. But with a band as versatile as SCI, which released the performance on professional video, such surprises are not so surprising.

Grade card: The String Cheese Incident - “Ramble On” (Live - 2/8/25) - B+

3/4/25

[dare-g]

The Motel (2005)

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: String Cheese Incident - “Revival” (Live, May 19, 2024)

“Revival” got a fitting revival from the String Cheese Incident.

SCI turned in a stellar version of the Allman Brothers Band number May 19 in Maine. And it was fortunately captured on high-quality video and just released to the wider audience.

It climaxes with a joyful call-and-response between band and audience - Players: People can you feel it? Listeners: Love is everywhere! - accompanied by drums, percussion and handclaps. Iffy vocals from the stage notwithstanding, it’s a glorious moment.

The song proper finds Michael Kang and Bill Nershi doing a convincing imitation of the Allmans’ harmonizing guitars. Nershi sings it, takes a solo, hands off to keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth and locks back in with Kang before the aforementioned home stretch.

Grade card: String Cheese Incident - “Revival” (Live, May 19, 2024) - A-

5/22/24

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: String Cheese Incident - “Lend Me a Hand” (Live, Sept. 23, 2023)

Lending a hand at Farm Aid, String Cheese Incident performed “Lend Me a Hand.”

The title track from the band’s 2023 LP is a rollicking, sing-songy call for help - and brotherhood - from the Colorado outfit. And though Sound Bites was initially hot on the studio version of the tune and SCI’s new, grown-up approach, “Lend Me a Hand” is already growing tiresome; sing-songy typically holds up for only a short while.

The Farm Aid performance is out on professional video. And for those who ain’t heard “Lend Me A Hand” yet, it’s worth a peek.

Grade card: String Cheese Incident - “Lend Me a Hand” (Live - 9/23/23) - B-

11/16/23

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: String Cheese Incident - “One More Time”

Inspired by the death of String Cheese Incident manager Jesse Aratow but with universally themed lyrics, “One More Time” is one sad song.

In a dream you sat with me/empty glass at the bar/I knew you were gone/but you turned to me and said/I miss you, too, my friend, Kyle Hollingsworth sings on the second single from SCI’s forthcoming (Sept. 8) Lend Me a Hand.

Like the previously released title track, “One More Time” is a departure for the band - more in the singer-songwriter vein of the 1970s than the jam-grass vibe of the 21st century.

But the guys in String Cheese Incident are - like all of us - getting older and missing more people as time slips away. “One More Time” captures that misty feeling without being overly mawkish; and though it doesn’t make the listener feel good, it does makes him or her feel.

Grade card: String Cheese Incident - “One More Time” - B

7/6/23

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: String Cheese Incident - “Lend Me a Hand”

String Cheese Incident sound more New Orleanian than Coloradan on the title track from their forthcoming Lend Me a Hand.

There’s an acoustic-guitar solo in there, but “Lend Me a Hand” is a mostly electric, bluesy shuffle heavy on piano and percussion that sends it strutting down the banks of the Mississippi rather than skiing the face of the Rockies.

Sung by Keith Moseley and outfitted with joyful harmonies, it’s a call to unity.

Can somebody help me/somebody lend me a hand/you can lean on me neighbor/when you need a favor/brother would you lend me a hand/if you can, goes the chorus.

Lend Me a Hand is due Sept. 8. “Lend Me a Hand” is an auspicious preview.

Grade card: String Cheese Incident - “Lend Me a Hand” - A-

6/12/23

[krispyweiss]

String Cheese Incident “Find the Joy” as Christmas Nears

A fake fire and a faker Bill Nershi couldn’t stop the remaining members of String Cheese Incident from finding their holiday joy.

In matching jackets, Kyle Hollingsworth, Michael Kang, Keith Moseley, Jason Hann and Michael Travis convened in front of the faux flame with a miniature, bobble-headed Nershi to perform Hollingsworth’s 2021 holiday single “Find the Joy” and to promote their year-end run of shows in Colorado.

It’s an unserious number - as it should be - with references to Messrs. Seuss, Claus and Frosty as Hollingsworth, on keys and accompanied by mandolin, double bass and percussion, calls on figurine Nershi to: “take it to the bridge.”

Yet, he just stood there atop Hollingsworth’s keyboard, silently bopping his head.

12/22/22

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The String Cheese Incident feat. Billy Strings - “Black Clouds” (Live, May 24, 2019)

Hoping to have their and the audience’s “minds blown,” the String Cheese Incident invited Billy Strings to join them under “Black Clouds” at DelFest 2019.

The resulting 14-minute pickathon as captured on pro-shot video fulfilled its aspirational duty as it traversed myriad soundscapes SCI knows well. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this Strings Cheese Incident is the way it explores theretofore uncharted nooks and crannies without getting bogged down in a search for novel musical scenery.

Ever egalitarian, String Cheese allows Strings to share vocals with Keith Moseley. And while it is a selfless move, this performance is about the aural journey between verses.

Strings trades lighting-fast acoustic licks with Bill Nershi to kick off the adventure and does it again toward the end. Michael Kang follows each wooden excursion with cracking runs on electric mandolin as the SCI rhythm section steers the lead players over steep climbs and rapid descents with fluidity to match the soloists.

Minds blown?

Check.

Grade card: The String Cheese Incident feat. Billy Strings - “Black Clouds” (Live - 5/24/19) - A-

8/19/19