Description
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene. The band took a hiatus in 2005, and spent parts of 2007 in a reunion. The band formed by accident in 1989, when a local band, the Salmon Heads (Vince Herman), asked some members of the Left Hand String Band (Drew Emmitt, Glenn Keefe, Mark Vann) to fill some missing spots in its lineup. The synergy worked and the result was Leftover Salmon. The lineup would change significantly over the years, but the "Big Three" – Drew Emmitt, Vince Herman and Mark Vann—remained the heart of the band until Vann's death in 2002. After the independent release of Bridges to Bert in 1993 and the 1995 live follow-up Ask the Fish, Leftover Salmon gained a spot on the H.O.R.D.E. festival tour and a contract with Hollywood Records. Their Hollywood debut and second studio album, Euphoria with guest keyboardist Pete Sears, continued to define their eclectic sound and introduced many songs that would become classics for the band. In 2000, Bill McKay, formerly of the Derek Trucks Band, would join the band on keyboards and vocals and the band would record several of his songs. He would remain with the band until late 2011. In March 2002, founding member and banjoist Mark Vann lost his battle with cancer. He was succeeded by Noam Pikelny. In 2004 the band announced they would be going on hiatus at the end of the year. An award-nominated documentary film of Leftover Salmon, titled Years in Your Ears, was released on DVD in November 2006. Leftover Salmon reunited in 2007 and played six performances, including the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California, the All Good Festival in West Virginia, as well as Denver and Boulder, Colorado shows in late December. Leftover Salmon marked their unofficial return to the stage with a performance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on Sunday, June 24, 2007, as "Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman and Friends." They were introduced by Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band with the line, "We know what it might say in the program, but I think we all really know what's going on here." Despite their various successful side projects, Leftover Salmon played seven times during the summer of 2008 and 2009. For a special New Years run, the band celebrated 20 years as a band by returning to the site of their very first show in Crested Butte, Colorado: The Eldo. The band played four shows through Denver and Boulder Colorado during this run while celebrating their 20th anniversary. Since moving Andy Thorn in to the banjo role, the band has been touring more than usual with small runs throughout the country.