The Vince Herman Band will perform at Wave on Wednesday, Oct. 25, in support of Herman’s 2022 solo debut album, “Enjoy the Ride.”
Herman, a co-founding member of the revered bluegrass/jam band Leftover Salmon, says that the journey toward his solo debut came with a visit to Nashville during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Invigorated by meeting a series of new musical collaborators, he relocated there from his longtime home in Boulder, Colorado.
The LP, he says, is his vision of country and displays a variety of music flavors that add elements of Cajun music, rock, and, of course, bluegrass, to the mix.
Herman recently spoke with KMUW from his home in Nashville about the origins of “Enjoy the Ride” and his continued enthusiasm for music.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What inspired you to make your first solo album, “Enjoy the Ride”?
Pretty much moving to Nashville and doing this co-writing thing [I’ve been doing]. I ended up with a big bucket full of songs that I felt like I had to do something with. That turned into touring with a band to perform this stuff.
I find the record very life-affirming. Is that the state of mind you were in as you were writing it?
Absolutely. I’ve been through some stuff in my years but I gotta say that the majority of it, I have been just one of the luckiest people on earth to get to do what I do and do it for so long. It’s a constant source of amazement to me. [Laughs.] It’s good to be alive, I’ll tell ya that!
Was some of this also coming out of the height of the pandemic and saying, “Well, I made it through that”?
During the pandemic, I was living in Boulder, and I decided to get an RV, just cruise around the country and see what kind of adventures I could find since for the first time in forever I’ve been able to be off the road and not have anything scheduled. I’ve always wanted to do the kind of traveling where you just go where you want to go on a whim and not have a schedule or anything. The RV gave me a chance to do that and cruise around in my own bubble.
I pulled into Nashville and didn’t leave for a month because of all the good folks I found to write with and all the good music going on. It seemed like the place to be, so I jumped in the RV, went back to Colorado, brought my stuff back, ended up buying a house, settling in. It’s been a great decision. There’s so much creative energy in Nashville right now. It’s a really exciting time to be there.
It was known for so long as the capital of country music but now people from all different genres are moving there, and I imagine that allows for some real cross-pollination as well.
The album “Enjoy the Ride” is definitely my view of what country music is, with Cajun and bluegrass and kind of rowdy rock ‘n’ roll stuff. That’s what country is to me. I know that it’s been defined into a little more narrow thing these days, but that’s what I really wanted the record to reflect, what I thought I country music. I’m pretty happy with the results.
Was country music something you gravitated to as a younger person?
“Hee-Haw” was on every Saturday night in my house. I got to see all the classic old cats. That was just a part of how I grew up. Roger Miller, that kind of thing, was strong in my ears as a kid and then the country rock thing with Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker Band, that kind of stuff, was, I guess, my next step in understanding country rock. And then bluegrass took over from there! [Laughs.]
As it does!
Yeah, bluegrass. The original rock ‘n’ roll.
Tell me about working outside the context of Leftover Salmon and with new players. That must bring a new energy with it.
It’s exciting. I’m particularly loving being out on the road with my son Silas. He’s 28, the pedal steel player [Dakota Holden] is 26. There’s a lot of good, young energy in the band. It’s fun doing whole new stuff. I’m constantly bringing new songs to the table and see how it is that they evolve playing with these cats. It’s really a rewarding period for me.
I would imagine the live show has a good share of “Enjoy the Ride” in it but what other kinds of things are you bringing into the sets?
We play a little Texas swing kind of stuff. Some country standards but, for the most part, it’s all original songs. I won’t be doing any Salmon or [Herman’s other band] High Hawks material. I like to keep the repertoires separate in all the different projects I do so people know they’re coming for something a little bit different. It’s definitely different than the Salmon thing with pedal steel going on; it leans a little more toward the country rock stuff than the bluegrass but there is some bluegrass in the show for sure.
Now that you have your first solo album out, does this open the door for more in the future?
I’m thinking this winter I’m going to make a record of some kind. The songs keep stacking up, they may even deserve to live! [Laughs.]
