Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Jeff Sipe, Drew Emmitt
All Music Guide:
The self-described "polyethnic cajun slamgrass" group Leftover Salmon formed in Colorado in the early '90s as a merger of two area acts, the Left Hand String Band and the Salmonheads. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist/washboard player Vince Herman, banjoist Mark Vann, mandolinist/guitarist Drew Emmit, bassist Tye North and drummer Michael Wooten, the band's good-timey earned a grassroots following on the festival circuit and resulted in their 1993 self-released debut Bridges to Bert. Ask the Fish, a 1995 live effort recorded at Boulder, Colorado's Fox Theatre, helped Leftover Salmon earn a deal with the Hollywood label, which in 1997 released the group's major label bow Euphoria. The Nashville Sessions followed two years later. Upon issuing the Live album in spring 2002, Leftover Salmon experienced some restructuring within the band. North and Wooten were no longer part of Leftover Salmon. Greg Garrison stepped in to play bass, Jose Martinez was added on drums and newcomer Bill McKay joined on keyboards.
Wikipedia:
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.
History
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 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, "No matter what the program says, we all 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.
