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Polyethnic Cajun SlamGrass
Colorado's legendary Leftover Salmon has spiced up their act and are pleased to welcome three new band members into the fold; Bill McKay from the Derek Trucks Band on Hammond B3 and piano, Jose Martinez from the Seattle Jazz and R&B scene on drums and Greg Garrison, fresh off the road from The Matt Flinner Quartet and The Motet on bass.
Leftover Salmon is still playing their own flavor of Bluegrass which draws from country, Cajun, Southern rock, boogie and assorted ethnic influences. Their sound is expanding even more now that there are new band members aboard.
"Larger" is the way Vince Herman (vocals & guitar) describes it. "It has provided us with a different kind of sonic bed. It's Fresh. There's now a larger palette to work from and we're all loving the new band dynamic." The new lineup has taken Leftover more in the rock and roll direction. "Our new band members are also great at playing Bluegrass so there are a lot more musical places we can now go." Herman says. "Bill is singing and writing tunes and it's really fun to have new players. We are all very pleased at how well it is going."
"Jose on drums has been wonderful. We were apprehensive about looking for a new drummer because we knew it would be hard to replace Jeff Sipe." Leftover met Jose at The High Sierra Music Festival this past summer and in the usual Leftover manner they invited him to sit in with them. "Jose sat down mid set, and I didn't notice that he was there. He picked up our style right away, and since Leftover started at The Telluride Bluegrass Festival so it was perfect that we found Jose at a festival," Herman recounts.
Leftover Salmon was born eleven years ago in Boulder CO and was the result of a merger between Vince Herman (from Cajun/ Calypso/jugband The Salmonheads) and Drew Emmitt and Mark Vann (of progressive bluegrass Left-Hand String band.) Leftover self-released their first album Bridges To Bert in 1992 and the live Ask the Fish in 1995. They were signed to Hollywood records who released Euphoria in 1997 and The Nashville Sessions in 1999.
The recording of The Nashville Sessions was a star studded affair that paired Leftover with an A -list of Nashville's most notable session players including Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Reese Wynans, John Cowan, and Sally Van Meter. Country legends Earl Scruggs, Waylon Jennings and Lucinda Williams also contributed as did many of the band's friends from the road including Blues Traveler's John Popper, John Bell from Widespread Panic and Big Head Todd's Todd Park Mohr. Leftover has toured relentlessly over the past eleven years playing countless clubs and theatres and appearing at every festival known to mankind wowing their audiences with their crazy antics.
When asked what 2001 has in store for Leftover Herman says: " I have a feeling we will record a new album and our next record will be a rock and roll kind of record. We are all so psyched about all of the new possibilities and are feeling really revived. Our goal remains to get as many people involved as possible. This past New Year's Eve was the best New Year's show we have ever had. (Leftover sold out The Paramount Theatre in Denver). We did not do too many whiz bang gizmo things. We just played and we all just felt inspired at every turn… We are totally recharged."
Leftover Salmon will be hitting the Colorado mountain towns in January, doing a West Coast tour in February & March and they will heading East and Southeast in the Spring. This Summer will be full of what Leftover loves to do the most - Festivaals! So climb on board!
Leftover Salmon is:
Drew Emmitt - Vocals, Mandolin Bill McKay - Hammond Organ, Piano
Vince Herman - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar Jose Martinez - Drums
Mark Vann - Vocals, Banjo Greg Garrison - Bass
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