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Meet the band…
Vince Herman - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
If you have ever spent any time with Vince you know that one paragraph is certainly not enough to capture his true persona. Vince has the unique ability to play nearly any song you could possibly request on guitar and if he doesn't know the lyrics he will spontaneously combine rhyming lines that are as good and sometimes funnier than the original tune. His genuine love for music and people has awakened many a festavarian across our nation.
Vince was raised the youngest in a family of seven near the steel mills of Pittsburgh, PA. His grandfather spent 30 years working in "40 inch coal". Vince enrolled at the University of West Virginia and had many out-of-classroom hysterical experiences. In 1989, Vince started a band called the Salmon Heads and by 1990, Vince combined forces with Drew from Left Hand String Band to create Leftover Salmon. Vince and his cronies have been integral in spreading the significance of festivals and the art of *anahuacing as a significant part of the American musical experience.
Drew Emmitt - Vocals, Mandolin
A renaissance man in musical instruments, Drew Emmitt excels in unique energy driven mandolin licks that leave you with your jaw hangin'. His lead harmony vocals and songwriting skills make Drew as integral to Leftover Salmon as anahuacing is to festivals. He has been playing music since he was a kid in Nashville, Tennessee. Drew moved to Boulder in High School and attended CU. He was inspired to study many different instruments including mandolin, guitar, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, and piano. His musical influences include Hot Rize, New grass Revival, Sam Bush, Bill Monroe, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Lowell George, John Cowan, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page and Steve Morse. Drew played in several local Boulder bands beginning with the Porphyry Mountain Boys, the Tractors, and 7 years with the Left Hand String Band. Drew's dedication and love for music, has helped him become one of our nation's top mandolin players. Drew has composed innumerable tunes, many of which have worked their way into the wild and diverse Leftover Salmon repertoire. Drew has taken the mandolin into new territory by using the slide along with overdrive to create a sound not heard before out of his instrument as well as developing a steel drum type sound with a low-tech foot pedal.
Mark Vann - Banjo, water phone, rubber fish
Mark's interest in the banjo and Bluegrass dates back to 1974 when he was first "exposed" to both in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial in our nation's capital at the annual July 4th gathering of Carl Pagter and his friends from local Bluegrass bands. His early banjo idols were Ben Eldrige of the "old, old" Seldom Scene with his low-key, jazz-like style and Alan Munde, who played a fascinating "melodic style." Even in those early days, Mark was interested in taking the 5-string banjo beyond Bluegrass as he frequently does with the Leftover Salmon today. After winning the Banjo Contest at Telluride (twice, now) and with determination shared with a few like-minded, newfound Colorado friends, he moved to Boulder, CO, to devote all his energies to music. Mark has long-since traded in his Gibson for the Nechville banjo and trusty electric tree stump he plays today. (Yep, it's really a tree stump!) The waterphone is a creation of sunny California, and it's the featured instrument in the stage renditions of "Ask the Fish." It's played with a bass fiddle bow. The rubber fish hails from the Woolworth Five and Dime. It simply must be heard to be believed.
Jose Martinez - Drums
Drummer Jose Martinez hails from Miami, Florida. He acquired a BA in
Music from the University of Northern Colorado in 1993, and now
freelances in the Seattle area where he now resides. He plays with
various artists in the Seattle jazz and R&B scene. Jose plays on a 4-piece custom-built drum set made by Tribes Percussion out of Boulder.
Greg Garrison - Bass
Greg grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and spent 5 years in the Champaign/Urbana area going to school and learning how to play music. He moved to Colorado in 1997 to get a graduate degree and to explore what the high country had to offer. Since arriving, he has toured with the Matt Flinner Quartet and the Motet, and has worked as a freelance jazz and session bassist throughout Colorado. Greg's influences include Edgar Meyer, Dave Holland, Oteil Burbridge, Phil Lesh, Charlie Haden, George Porter, Norman Blake, Todd Phillips, Ron Carter and the rest of Miles's mid 60's quintet, Ornette Coleman, Bill Frisell, Art Lande, and all the musicians of Champaign/Urbana.
Bill McKay - Hammond Organ, Piano, Vocals
Bill grew up in Westchester County, New York, where he sang in the church choir as a young lad and began studying classical piano at around the age of 8.
Throughout high school, he pursued training in jazz theory, and played in a number of bands. In the summer of 1987, he moved to Colorado to study music. During University he bought a beat-up 1957 Hammond L-100. Following college, he spent five years touring, writing and singing with Colorado's own Band du Jour. When Band Du Jour broke up he was invited to be the keyboardist and primary vocalist for the Derek Trucks Band. He spent over five years on the road with Derek Trucks. Bill has written and played throughout his life with his brother John, a highly talented singer/guitarist /songwriter, in the Wiley Cotton Band, and continues to do so whenever possible. Bill's influences range from keyboardists such as Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Smith to vocalists such as Bobby Bland, Freddie King, and Aretha Franklin, to the great horn players, as well as funk and traditional American roots music-folk, and Bluegrass.
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