Bill Nershi was one of the founding members of the Colorado-based jam band String Cheese Incident. The guitarist, with a deep history of flat picking guitar, helped steer his band on to become a touring behemoth and a well known staple of the jam scene. Although, because Nershi's love for bluegrass playing, when the String Cheese Incident started to venture into almost exclusive electronica territory (prompting many of the band's fans to call the band's sound "cheesetronica"), the guitarist felt his heart wasn't in the group's music anymore and decided to strike out on his own with a number of solo ventures. Nershi kicked around in an ill-fated group with his wife, Jilian and their friend Scot Law, although the outfit's characteristic, albeit slightly wimpy, bluegrass failed to find a substantial fan base. It would be a bit longer till Nershi hooked up with Leftover Salmon mandolinist Drew Emmitt. Playing with Leftover Salmon, a band with a rich history in the Colorado jam scene in its own right, Emmitt always had a strong interest in bluegrass and when he hooked up with Nershi, their well-oiled playing created a sound that brings to mind the floor stompin, barn-dance bluegrass hoedowns of yesteryear. The group, that's rounded out with a bass and banjo player, released its debut album, New Country Blues, in 2009 and since then, the Emmitt-Nershi Band has tour often and become a fairly notable fixture of the bluegrass and jam music scenes.
