Back in December Cloud 9 Adventures brought together Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, The Infamous Stringdusters and Leftover Salmon for the first annual Strings & Sol destination music festival, which was held at Dreams Tulum Resort and Spa in Tulum, Mexico. Cloud 9 has just announced the second installment of Strings & Sol with a few of the same bands and a few different acts.

The four-day Strings & Solo 2013 brings Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon and Keller Williams and the Travelin’ McCourys to the Now Sapphire Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico from December 11 – 15. Yonder will play a total of three performances with RRE and LoS signed up for one closing show and one additional performance. Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys and Greensky Bluegrass are set to perform twice a piece.

All-inclusive packages go on sale to the general public beginning April 17 at noon ET at www.stringsandsol.com. Those who attended the inaugural event will be able to take part in a pre-sale on April 16.

Celebrities are used to having things like sandwiches,  streets or drinking games named in their honor, but there have only been a chosen few that have had a spider named for them. Today news surfaced that a new genus of the velvet spider has recently been named Loureedia, “in recognition of the fact that this velvet spider lives underground,” in honor of the Velvet Underground front man Lou Reed. The  spider, which is described as having a “dark and shiny” appearance and is known to live in Africa, Asia, Europe and Brazil. Reed joins both Frank Zappa and Neil Young, as the only members of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame that can claim the distinction of having an arachnoid named for them.

• List Time: Paste’s 70 Best Albums Of The 1970s
• A copy of the Dead’s 5/8/77 show will be added to the National Recording Registry
• Cover Alert: Pond tackles Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
• The Flaming Lips will attempt to break Jay-Z’s record for concerts in a 24 hour period
• Download This: The Head & The Heart – Fuel/Friend’s Chapel Sessions #15
• Beastie Boys’ fans are trying to get a Brooklyn park named after Adam Yauch

Finally, earlier this week longtime jam favorites Leftover Salmon released Aquatic Hitchhiker, their first new studio album in eight years. Produced by Steve Berlin from Los Lobos, and recorded at Cloud Sound Studios in Portland, Ore., the record is not only the Colorado-based band’s first containing all original material, but also their debut with banjo player Andy Thorn.

In conjunction with album, LoS have also released the five-part making of documentary, Salmonlandia, exclusively through iClips. The doc, which will run you just $5.99, includes a five-song download with two tracks only available through Salmonlandia on iClips. Leftover Salmon will kick off their first extended tour in quite some time with an appearance at this weekend’s Summer Camp Festival.

Cloud 9 Adventures have just announced the latest addition to their roster of music destination events – Strings & Sol. S&S will bring Yonder Mountain String Band, the Infamous Stringdusters, Railroad Earth and Leftover Salmon to Tulum, Mexico between December 12 and 16 for three full shows a piece spread out amongst the festival’s four days.

The Dreams Tulum resort will host the inaugural Strings & Sol and packages are available with lodging at the hotel and without. Dreams Tulum is located 75 miles south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera. Rooms and four-day passes go on sale May 23rd at noon EDT through the event’s website.

Earlier today we shared Jonathan Kosakow’s thoughts on last night’s Fourmile Canyon Revival benefit concert, which brought together the members of Phish with String Cheese Incident, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Yonder Mountain String Band and Leftover Salmon to raise money for those affected by the Fourmile Canyon Fire.

[Photo by Tobin Voggesser]

Let’s take a look at a batch of incredible action photos from the benefit…

Photos by Mitch Kline

READ ON for over 30 photos from the Fourmile Canyon Revival…

Fourmile Canyon Revival @ 1st Bank Center, October 9

String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Jeff Austin, Big Head Todd, and Bonnie Paine from Elephant Revival, all on stage at the same time – and it wasn’t even the highlight of the show. That was the kind of night it was – one full of sit-ins and guest appearances, free-for-all jams and surprises. The Fourmile Canyon Revival benefit concert, held at Broomfield, CO’s 1st Bank Center, was easily the fall of 2010’s first and most anticipated show in the Rocky Mountain State.

[All photos by David Steinberg]

Before the show, the parking lot was buzzing. Rumors had been flowing about the lineup, special guests, and most people simply couldn’t wait to get inside. The 6,500-capacity 1st Bank Center was fully packed early on in the evening, and that’s a good thing, because it was not a show to miss.

Just a few a minutes before 6PM on Saturday night, Leftover Salmon took the stage to a barrage of loud screams, people hopeful that the night would go as well as they’d hoped. That was the first good sign: an entire band taking the place of originally scheduled Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman, and Keith Moseley of String Cheese taking over bass duties. When Phish’s Page McConnell joined the set, and then String Cheese Incident’s Bill Nershi, and then Bonnie Paine from Elephant Revival, the crowd was already thrown back on their heels. By the end of the set, just about everyone’s jaws had dropped. But it was only 7PM, the night was young.

READ ON for more from Kos on last night’s show…

Earlier today, message boards and Twitter were abuzz with a potential lineup for tomorrow’s Fourmile Canyon Revival benefit concert at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO and while we can’t 100% confirm that what circulated was correct, we feel confident enough in its veracity that we’re going to share it with our readers.

According to a post on PhishPosters.com, Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon will be joined by bassist Keith Moseley of String Cheese Incident and Phish keyboardist Page McConnell, Phish drummer Jon Fishman will play with Yonder Mountain String Band, a few guests to be determined will sit in with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon from Phish will perform as a duo and String Cheese Incident will close things out with more to be determined guests.

Whatever happens, we’re sure it will be insane. HT contributor Jonathan Kosakow will be at the 1st Bank Center for tomorrow’s show and we’ll have his full report shortly thereafter. Check out Kos’ preview for more.

Yonder Mountain String Band @ Red Rocks, August 27

What do you do when the time is getting late, the crowd is slowly clearing out and you’re losing energy, but the band won’t stop playing? You stay and enjoy the music. Well, at least that’s my opinion. It’s always a coveted show at Red Rocks: it always seems to be the big stop on every band’s tour, and for the boys of Yonder Mountain it was no different. Bassist Ben Kaufman at one point remarked, “I can’t believe we get to do this,” and later mandolinist Jeff Austin, always excited and always smiling, told us, “This is our favorite part of the year.” And they did their best to prove it to us. On Friday, Yonder Mountain String Band played for well over three hours, starting at 9 and not finishing until after 1 in the morning.

[All Photos by Jason Woodside]

Split Lip Rayfield started the evening at 6PM, and after that set came 90 minutes of Leftover Salmon. By 8:45pm, the sun had gone down, the buzzing of the crowd had settled and the carpets had been laid down on stage to accommodate Yonder Mountain’s modest stage set-up. It wasn’t long after that Austin, Kaufman, Adam Aijala on guitar and Dave Johnston on banjo walked slowly on stage and broke right into Looking Back Over My Shoulder.

Even though it was an exciting moment – the first chords of the main event, a night of Colorado bluegrass – it was hard to get into at first. Because of Yonder’s affinity for the simple acoustic bluegrass, and because they are accustomed to smaller venues, they seemed to have a bit of a hard time filling the space. There is a lot of open air at Red Rocks Amphitheater. But, once my ears got used to it, and the crowd settled a bit more, it was easier to listen to each note.

READ ON for more about Yonder Mountain at Red Rocks…

The ’00s haven’t been kind to the jamband genre as many bands who started the decade on the road don’t tour anymore. As we near the end of the decade, we wanted to put together a list of these groups. Sure, a few of these bands play shows occasionally for their loyal fans, but they haven’t hit the road for an extended trip recently.

Without further ado, here’s our list…

1. String Cheese Incident

The String Cheese Incident called it quits in 2007 and ended their touring career with four shows at Red Rocks. The band got back together to appear at Rothbury in July and rumor has it they will hit the road for more shows.

2. Ominous Seapods

The Seapods went on indefinite hiatus back in 2001, but have since regrouped for the occasional show including an appearance at moe.down 10 earlier this month.

READ ON for more bands that didn’t make it out of the decade…

If there’s pickin’ to be done, you could do far worse than Drew Emmitt, who thanks to his long tenure in Leftover Salmon and later projects like the Drew Emmitt Band, is one of the scene’s most visible mandolinists and bluegrass aficionados.

Never short on a strong opinion, Emmitt caught us up on all he has going on now, most notably a lengthy tour with the new Emmitt-Nershi Band (featuring Emmitt, Nershi, banjoist Andy Thorn and bassist Tyler Grant) and how getting back to basics — that is, the fun and fleet-fingered business of bluegrass — has been a blessing for both he and String Cheese Incident’s Bill Nershi.

With more on the horizon from the ENB, Emmitt’s band — and a stray Leftover Salmon reunion or two — it’s looking good that Emmitt’s year will finish better than it started, though if you’re holding your breath for that 40-date Leftover Salmon tour, it’s time to let go.

HT: Can you talk a little bit about how you and Bill decided to form a band together. Obviously you go way back and given the Colorado origins, have a lot in common as musicians and otherwise.

DREW EMMITT: Yeah, definitely. I guess where it started was we were at a benefit show in Boulder for the Mark Vann Foundation in 2007. We did some playing together there and just started talking backstage about how it’d be cool to play some bluegrass together. Later, I was down in Florida for a tour with my band and I heard from Billy. He said he was quitting String Cheese and wanted to put this band together and from that point on we’d planned to do it six months later so we’d have time to get it going.

READ ON for the rest of Chad’s chat with Drew Emmitt…

Way back on New Year’s Eve 1989, members of Left Hand String Band, Drew Emmitt and Glenn Keefe, joined Vince Herman and members of Herman’s band, The Salmon Heads, for a performance at the Eldo in Crested Butte under the moniker Leftover Salmon. After 20 years of carving their own path to success, the band will celebrate their anniversary with a pair of gigs on December 30 and 31 at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, CO.

A limited amount of tickets are available for each show through the band’s fan club, which you can join by signing up for the email list over at the group’s website. Those who sign up will receive a code to participate in the NYE presale and will get access to a free download of LoS’s main stage set at High Sierra. Tickets go on sale to the general public on September 18 through the Boulder Theater.

The founders of the “Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass” genre have a busy weekend ahead. On Saturday, the group will headline The Traffic Jam festival on the streets of Baltimore while on Sunday they’ll join Ekoostik Hookah at what has to be the 1,295th installment of Hookahville in Pataskala, OH.

Leftover Salmon – 02/01/1995 SBD Boone, NC [MP3] [Stream]

1994-1999 or so was a great time for jambands. Some of the best bands of the genre were at their peak in this time frame and Leftover Salmon was one of them. They developed their own style, a hybrid of Zydeco, Rock, Blues, Bluegrass and Country music that the band referred to as “Polyethniccajunslamgrass”, but it wasn’t until the jamband scene exploded around ’94 or so that Leftover Salmon started to make waves.  The band toured relentlessly all over the country making a name for themselves and putting on high energy shows that literally left you feeling exhausted by the time the last song of the night was being played.

I was lucky enough to see a few incarnations of Leftover Salmon and in my opinion, this lineup right here will always be the creme de la creme for me. The lineup at this time was Vince Herman (guitar/vocals/washboard), Drew Emmitt (mandolin/fiddle/guitar/vocals), Mark Vann (banjo), Tye North (bass guitar) and Michael Wooten (drums). I never saw a “bad” Leftover Salmon show and I caught them whenever they rolled into town.

This show you are about to listen to is Leftover Salmon at its finest. It’s crazy, it’s kookie, it’s fun and it’s 100% gonna make you smile. From their covers of Brain Damage and Paint It Black to all of the insane stage banter, THIS, my friends, is the magic that was and still is Leftover Salmon!

Check out more from Don at The Great Southern Brainfart.

We’d love to be a fly on the wall at the next Leftover Salmon rehearsal. You may recall that Leftover Salmon keyboard wiz Billy McKay was arrested last month on suspicion of sexual assault that stems from an incident after his solo band’s New Years’ gig. The day after McKay’s arrest, Drew Emmitt of LoS threw his bandmate under the bus in an interview with the Daily Camera:

“We have been aware of Bill’s drinking problem for a long time,” Emmitt said. “We’ve been trying to help him, but we knew he was going down this path. He’s been really lucky that something bad hasn’t happened before this.

“He’s no longer with this band.”

Emmitt retracted his statements the following day including the bit about McKay being kicked out of the band. Yesterday, the Eagle County district attorney’s office announced that the charges against McKay had been dropped due to lack of evidence. As of now, the only show on Leftover Salmon’s schedule is an appearance at Del McCoury’s DelFest on May 23 in Cumberland, MD. Hopefully Bill and Drew will squash their beef with a Mixed Martial Arts fight before the show. Bet that would sell some tickets.

For the past 24 hours we’ve been remiss in not writing about the sad meltdown of Leftover Salmon that’s happening out in Colorado. The story keeps on changing, so stay with us and we’ll start from the beginning.

[Eagle County Sheriff's Department]

On New Year’s Eve, Salmon keyboardist Bill McKay performed with his solo band at Rick & Kelly’s American Bistro in Edwards, Colorado. On January 9, a woman contacted the police and told them that McKay drugged her after that show and brought her home, where she alleges McKay sexual assaulted her. McKay was arrested Tuesday at his Denver home on a charge of sexual assault.

You’d expect your family – or in this case your band mates – to defend you, but Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt immediately threw McKay under the bus. Yesterday, Emmitt told Boulder’s Daily Camera that McKay was an alkie and no longer a member of the band…

“We have been aware of Bill’s drinking problem for a long time,” Emmitt said. “We’ve been trying to help him, but we knew he was going down this path. He’s been really lucky that something bad hasn’t happened before this.

“He’s no longer with this band.”

“We definitely want to let people know that he is just one person in this band and that he is no longer with us,” Emmitt said. “We’re just going to find another keyboard player. This is beyond what any of us can deal with.”

READ ON for more on today’s installment of As The Leftover Salmon Turns…

Technically, as Scotty pointed out to me the other day, today’s band isn’t quite in the Jamband Graveyard. But when the band in question has only played a handful of select dates over the last few years and its members have full time commitments with other bands it’s safe to lump them into this category – though it’s not a fate that we want to wish on any act.

While jambands on the East Coast in the ’90s were more rock based outfits, Colorado’s Leftover Salmon brought something new to the blossoming world of improvisational music. The band members played an eclectic mix of instruments – banjo, mandolin, fiddle along with guitar, bass and drums and played their self-described brand of “Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass” – which included elements of bluegrass, rock, zydeco, folk, klezmer, funk and just about anything else they could think of.

Combining fantastic musicianship with the wry sense of humor from lead singer Vince Herman, you could pretty much expect the unexpected when you caught Leftover Salmon – wacky covers, made-up songs and as well as the head of Mayor McCheese propped up on stage. I’m not sure I’ve seen an act that had more fun than these guys, here they are with the calypso-infused Zombie Jamboree…

You can pretty much credit LoS for paving the way for like minded acts like String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band. Leftover Salmon will make one of their now rare live appearances on Halloween at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium. Go check ‘em out!

More Salmon:

• Euphoria, Carnival Time, Squirrel Heads & Gravy – 12/28/98
• 420 Polka – Wavy Gravy’s Hog Farm Pig Nic 1996
• Reach – La Hood Bluegrass Festival – 8/29/98

Previously On HT’s Jamband Graveyard Week: GSW, The Samples

Normally, Phish has no problem winning an edition of Cover Wars regardless of their performance of the song in question. But the hardcore fans of Bonerama (can I call you people Boneheads?) made their virtual voices heard and their band has walked away victorious from last week’s Frankenstein Cover Wars.

This week’s selection was inspired by flipping through my RSS feed of shows added to bt.etree.org on Monday. I saw two sources of the Gov’t Mule’s show from 8-8-2008 get posted and I thought – hey, Spanish Moon could be a great Cover Wars to throw together. Written by Lowell George, Spanish Moon was first released on Little Feat’s fourth studio album Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. It would appear again four years later on the band’s first live recording Waiting For Columbus. Both recordings feature the Tower Of Power Horn Section.

We use imeem to embed these playlists, so be sure to register or login to hear the tracks in their entirety.

READ ON after the jump to see your options and cast your vote…