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KYLE HOLLINGSWORTH
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West Coast Memories: Chico

My main memory of Chico is the HEAT. Man it seemed like every time SCI played here it was insanely hot. I guess it must have always been summer when we passed through. I do remember playing a show with our friend Dar Williams here at some strange, long barn thing. Dar was totally cool and her keyboard player rocked. I dug what they were doing. Before the show I think we all snuck away to some watering holes along a river and soaked for a long while.

And there was one super hot night at the Senator Theater where we played "Oye Como Va," the Santana tune, a rare play for us. It's funny because on some of these tours each band member would make the setlist for the night and, as I look back at these shows, I wonder who made the each list. You can kinda can tell by openers and closers and overall flow in the set. It can be a tough to make the list. Especially with five other opinions flying round.

So this is the show closer for my West Coast run with JBB. It has been so much fun. They are great guys and they sound killer. I can’t believe it's over. But we will hook up with them again at the Boulder Theater in couple weeks.

Come on out tonight and try some Hop Bam Ale at Sierra Nevada. It's going to be a great tour closer with beer and music and I imagine the temperature will be less of an issue this time around with Sierra Nevada on board.

tags: California, Chico, John Brown's Body, Kyle Hollingsworth, Music, Sierra Nevada, String Cheese Incident, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth
Monday 10.22.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth
 

West Coast Memories: Lake Tahoe

Tahoe was always the stop into or our of California tours. We played a few small clubs in those early years. The first one I played was Humpty’s. When we first played there, I was so new to the group that I did not know all the songs. So I would sit out for a few each night. I forgot which tunes, probably "Black Clouds" or bluegrass ones like that. But that was cool with me because I was able to hang out, get a beer, and meet fans. In fact, it was at these shows that I meet a lot of early California cheese fans.

We played a daytime show outside with Leftover Salmon one summer. I remember picking Mark Vann's brain about how to emulate a banjo roll on the keyboard. It was a trip to figure out how to finger all those notes on the piano. And honestly, I never quite got it. But it was always a good time hanging with the Salmon guys.

So many winter stops for skiing and summer stops for mountain biking. I love this area. Looking forward to getting outside again when we are there.

tags: Crystal Bay, Kyle Hollingsworth, Lake Tahoe, Music, String Cheese Incident, Tahoe, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth
Saturday 10.20.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth
 

West Coast Memories: San Francisco

Ahh San Francisco…wow. This was one of the first stops I had on my virgin tours with the SCI gang. After a huge drive from Telluride in “Jean Claude Band Van” (the first of Cheese vehicles), we stayed right on the Bay at a friend’s condo. I woke up to a gorgeous view of boats and water. In Fact, it was that morning, when Kang and I were out on a Boston wailer trolling around , that he popped the question, “would you consider joining us full time?” I loved the idea, but was a bit booked up with other projects. What was I thinking! But eventually I cleared my schedule (like for the next 25 years).

I think it was on that run that we hit Great American Music Hall. It was an amazing venue with its gold leaf balconies and classic ambiance. Then later we played the Fillmore. I remember kind of flipping out to see the “Jerry” room in the backstage area at The Warfield. So much great music had come through these places. It was an honor to be on those stages. The Bay Area was always receptive to SCI. And it will be awesome to be back in this room again, like coming home.

tags: Fillmore, Great American Music Hall, Kyle Hollingsworth, Music, San Francisco, String Cheese Incident, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth
Friday 10.19.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth
 

West Coast Memories: Santa Cruz

Heading to Santa Cruz tonight. SCI played Palookaville and The Catalyst in those early days. I remember wandering the streets checking out the music stores and markets. One time while we were there a small earthquake hit. We were all sleeping in Bussy, in a random parking lot as usual, and the bus started to sway. I awoke to a jostled band and spilled water bottles, but no worse for the wear.

I have a vague recollection of us playing a gig in a garage with Keller somewhere in town. I think it belonged to a friend of ours, Frank. In fact I think he did all the great woodwork on the inside of Bussy. That must have been an early rendition of the Keller and SCI collaborations. I’ll have to go check out those tapes. Looking forward to getting back there I love this city.

tags: California, Kyle Hollingsworth, Music, Palookaville, Santa Cruz, String Cheese Incident, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth
Wednesday 10.17.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth
 

West Coast Memories: San Diego

Heading to San Diego tonight. KHB is playing the Belly Up. SCI performed there the year that I joined (1997). Man, that was a whirlwind year. I just looked back at all the dates and there seemed to be no downtime at all. We were serious road dogs back then. We had just come from a long run starting in Gainseville, FL, through New Orleans, Houston, Santa Fe and Flagstaff. So I have scattered memories of that gig, but I do remember walking randomly on the railroad tracks looking for a laundromat (I probably never found one). Also, that night, I met a keyboard player that I had admired from my Baltimore days. He played with a band called New Potato Caboose. They were a great group that fell into the early “jam band” genre. The keyboard player would do this killer percussion jam on his Hammond B3 with the drummers - very inspiring.

SCI has come back many times since then though. I recall a great show at the RIMAC Arena in 2002. I’ve heard that the “San Jose” from that show was pretty slamming. We also played with RatDog in 2006 at the park. That whole run with them was so much fun. I had a blast talking and jamming with all the guys. Plus I got to dance my ass off watching their set every night. I am psyched to in SoCal. again and looking forward to another great night of music.

tags: Belly Up, California, Kyle Hollingsworth, Music, RatDog, San Diego, Solana Beach, String Cheese Incident, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth, String Cheese Incident
Tuesday 10.16.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth
 

Out West Again

Well, I’m heading to the West Coast again. It’s been a while since I’ve been back there with my solo project. I'm looking forward to a week of Pacific Coast hospitality. When traveling with SCI, this was one of the first places I played on tour. I remember coming down into the Bay Area after a grueling, 26-hour drive from Boulder. It was like wandering into Wonderland. Everything was green, lush and so foreign to my cold Colorado winter.

I had never been to the Pacific Coast before and I was amazed at this land of the counter culture, Haight-Ashbury and the roots of the “Jam” culture. I had never seen a Whole Foods, met a vegan or walked through giant redwoods. And driving on Route 1 was spectacular, but always a bit unnerving, while at the wheel of a 32-foot ski bus named Bussy. That time was an awakening for me, not just musically, but also personally.

We played many cities and venues in those early tours, from San Diego to Seattle. It was a blast to leave my day job and join forces with this super vibrant, energetic crew of freaks. With Kristen the “merch goddess” and JonO our sound man, we traveled the West trying to convert young open-minded people to our musical style.

In the next few days, I’ll be posting on Facebook about my memories from early SCI gigs in each of my West Coast stops on this KHB tour.

I Hope you can tune in.

Kyle

tags: keyboardists, keyboards, Kyle Hollingsworth, Music, String Cheese Incident, Tour, West Coast
categories: KHB Tour, Kyle Hollingsworth
Tuesday 10.09.12
Posted by Kyle Hollingsworth