Formed in 1989, Colorado's Leftover Salmon began as an amalgamation of two other acts: Salmon Heads and Left Hand String Band. In a split-second decision, the new act was christened with its unusual -- but ultimately memorable — moniker.
The core of the initial group — Drew Emmitt, Vince Herman and Mark Vann — set about growing the group's reputation and recording albums such as Ask The Fish and Euphoria.
Embraced by the jam band groundswell of the 1990s, Leftover Salmon has endured its share of hardships, including the cancer death of banjo player Vann in 2002 and a series of lineup changes. Andy Thorn became Vann's third replacement around 2010 and has maintained that role since. The group is the subject of a new book, Thirty Years of Festival by Tim Newby, which chronicles the group's rise and distinct character. Leftover Salmon will perform at Salina's Stiefel Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 21 (there is no opening act).
Thorn recently spoke with KMUW about the group's current tour and his transformation from a fan to a band member.
Interview Highlights
You released Something Higher in 2018. How does the band determine the right time to go in and make a new record is?
Labels want you recording the next album the second the last one comes out. It's such a long process. You're basically always working on a new album. We've been working on a living room release, more of an acoustic thing.
Steve Berlin of Los Lobos produced this new album, and you've worked with him in the past. He seems to really "get" the band.
Steve's great. He produced the first album we did when we came back from hiatus, Aquatic Hitchhiker. At that point, we needed some guidance. I was new in the band and the band hadn't played together for a while. He helped everybody work together. We arranged that whole record in Vince's basement. He ended up doing High Country and Something Higher. This is our third album that he produced. He just knows how to work with us. He knows the guys and what buttons not to push and when to get somebody riled up. He's an incredible producer.
Were you a Leftover Salmon fan before you joined?
I was. I grew up in North Carolina and started going to some festivals and MerleFest was one of the first ones that my parents took me to when I was 14 or so. One of the bands I saw that year was Leftover Salmon with Sam Bush and Bela Fleck sitting in. That was my favorite band that I saw all weekend at the festival. After that, I saw them any time they were in the area, in Chapel Hill. I saw them quite a few times. I've been a fan ever since. Being in the band is very cool.
Did you have to audition?
Not exactly. I had started playing with the Emmitt-Nershi band first with Drew from Leftover and Billy Nershi from String Cheese Incident. I became very good friends with Drew that way. Drew already knew that I would be a good fit for the band, and he kinda forced me in. I was friends with Vince as well. There was no real audition. It was kind of amazing.
The band is celebrating 30 years together, there's a book. Is it strange to think about being in a band that's been around that long and has as much history as this one?
Sometimes. That 30th anniversary is coming up, and I've only been there eight or nine years. There's all sorts of stuff that they talk about that I don't even know what they're talking about. I wasn't there. A lot of times you just let them tell their story or remember their memory. But we're constantly making new stories and memories, too. There's a lot that we miss as new members. It's fun to hear about it all, really.
I haven't even been able to read the book yet. I can't wait to read it and find out more that I don't know! We were just on another leg of the tour, and I came home and said, "How did I not get a book, guys?" [Laughs.] Oh, well. There's a lot to find out in that book. I'm sure I'll learn a lot when I read it.
You draw upon a broad enough styles that you can play to a jazz audience, a country audience, a bluegrass audience. That has to be rewarding as a musician.
It definitely keeps it more interesting for the band. It's always fun for us because of that. We do tailor the shows. If we know that it's a bunch of younger hippies that want to party, we might do more jazzy tunes.
What is the model for the current run of shows, including the one that you'll play in Salina?
It's more of a sit-down show. We set up the stage like a living room with lamps and stuff. We have a grand piano. There's a 10-minute movie that documents a short history of the band. Then we play our stuff, but more stripped-down with stories about the songs in between, a lot of crowd interaction. It's really fun. We love it.
Jedd Beaudoin is the host of Strange Currency. Follow him on Twitter @JeddBeaudoin. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
