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Slice and Dice with Honkytonk Homeslice |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
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 Rock ’n’ roll history is full of bands with husband-wife teams: The Mamas and Papas, Fleetwood Mac, later-day Fairport Convention and Wings, among others.
While clearly not in the ranks of those above, add Honkytonk Homeslice to the list.
A trio featuring guitarist/mandolinist Scott Law and guitarist/vocalists Bill and Jilian Nershi, Homeslice shouldn’t implode violently like Richard and Linda Thompson of Fairport nor fracture over scandalous affairs like the Mamas and Papas. Instead, Bill Nershi expects the band to keep on growing as Jilian helps him with his singing, and he helps with her guitar playing.
“We didn’t play that much music together until a few years ago,” Nershi explained by phone from his Nederland home. “But both of us are learning a lot about each other and learning from each other. Add the fact that we are … getting to go on trips together, and it’s pretty cool.”
Those trips are much easier and more relaxed than those of his other band, String Cheese Incident. Come this fall that’s all he’ll have when he severs ties with SCI “because I feel I need to be involved in something new to continue my growth as a musician,” he said. “(Homeslice) has been new, fresh, exciting and I’m ready for that. It’s something new just to continue to be stimulated.”
In many aspects, Homeslice can be compared to the early gestation period of SCI in Crested Butte. when skiing superceded music making, and the music they made was more low-key and roots-oriented.
“It’s a return to roots-style music, acoustic music,” Nershi agreed. “Maybe I can pull back into the roots and get reacquainted and then push out from there again.”
Homeslice meanders through a mix of bluegrass, country, folk and rock, full of multiple harmonies (all three sing) that at times, to hear Nershi tell it, rivals the unearthly sounds of Tuvan throat singers.
“We attempt to create what we call ‘The Ring’ where our voices blend in a way that can create these harmonic overtones,” he explained. “When we are really on our game, the ringing of the voices and instruments is almost like we feel the presence of another instrument. It’s like creating a fourth member of the band that appears and then the sound expands. It’s almost like a meditative state.”
Of course, considering Nershi’s background, some free-form experimentation is expected. But unlike the wild jams of SCI, Nershi says Homeslice remains a little more constrained by its acoustic instruments. Still, Homeslice manages to push the envelop of your average acoustic band.
“We get to some really crazy spaces where we look at each other as if to say, ‘What do we do? What is this? What are we playing?’ ” Nershi said with a laugh. “We have a really good success ratio of these situations turning into something unexpected and cool. It’s high fun, low key. And that’s good.”
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TO GO TO THE SHOW
Honkytonk Homeslice with Assembly of Dust
Thursday, Feb. 22
Doors 8 p.m.; show 9 p.m.
Aggie Theatre
204 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
$13, call 482.8300; or at ABCDs, 484.2223; or Rockin’ Robins, 221.9977.
myspace.com/HonkytonkHomeslice
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ANOTHER DUMB NAME
Honkytonk Homeslice is not exactly a name fitting of the music. Though guitarist Bill Nershi explained there is some honkytonk influence in some of the songs, most really don’t match up.
“Some people think it’s cool, and others think it’s another dumb name like the String Cheese Incident,” he said with a laugh. “(My wife) Jill was saying something about Homeslice for the name. I thought it sounded cool, but it’s like we were rappers or something. I thought we should add something to it that describes the music a little bit more, and it became Honkytonk Homeslice. I have to agree, it’s not real descriptive of the music, but eventually people will know what the music is and not try and figure it out by the name.”
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CAMPFIRE SONGS
Honkytonk Homeslice formed initially in 2004 when String Cheese Incident was performing at Horning’s Hideout in Oregon, when Bill and Jilian Nershi and Scott Law jammed around the campfire each night. As crowds around the fire grew each evening, Nershi said he knew he was on to something. That fall, Honkytonk Homeslice performed its first “official” gig in Nederland.
Glenn BurnSilver | Only registered users can write comments.
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