Some bands have fans while others have phans. Some have a following but others, if lucky enough, have a following that becomes more like a family, an all-inclusive, look-out-for-each-other, how-can-I-help family. Each new addition to the family is greeted with bright smiles, open arms, and the best hopes for a bright future, and right now the family surrounding the Boulder-based jam band The String Cheese Incident is beaming. Earlier this month, they welcomed the birth of Madison House Publicity, their in-house publicity company. On September 12 their record label SCI Fidelity Records released Head West from Comotion, a side project of String Cheese Incident's Michael Kang, involving friends and fellow musicians from Leftover Salmon, the Anger-Marshall Band, Montreux and others.

At the heart of the SCI Family is the band itself, consisting of Kyle Hollingsworth, Michael Kang, Keith Moseley, Bill Nershi and Michael Travis. Five musicians dedicated to creating a positive atmosphere surrounding their shows and a burning commitment to make each live show a memorable "incident" for all involved: fans, musicians, venue owners, even forest rangers. "This is really great. This is where we want to be, and keeping the venues to the point where they are comfortable and keeping the energy the right way. Making sure everyone is comfortable with the shows and there isn't too much of an influx of negative energy at the scene, you know, a lot of parking lot scene or drugs, trying to keep that out of there," said Kyle Hollingsworth. "It's been good so far. We have been successful in that." Learning from their predecessors the Grateful Dead and Phish, String Cheese Incident and their management, Madison House, take great care in doing everything possible ahead of time to make sure everyone is prepared for and receptive to the environment they are going to create. This is frequently a festival environment-- not simply a concert environment-- lasting two to three days at a time. This preplanning can include everything from picking the right type and level of security to calling the National Forest Service and securing camping locations for their fans, in essence their extended family. "The band is camping right with [the fans]. We could wake up and walk around and everyone is selling things. You know, they have the burrito stands," said Kyle.

And with the mindset of "a family who plays together stays together," 950 fans called up their "cousins" at Madison House Travel, SCI's in-house travel company, and headed south this spring for two sold-out shows in Damas, Costa Rica. The event was the 3rd Annual International Incident and drew participants from over 45 states and 12 countries including Israel, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. The idea behind the Incident, said Kyle, is "bringing new experiences to our fans, bringing new experiences to us and it's a fun thing to do." This annual family outing has grown exponentially since its inception in 1998. "The first one was held in Jamaica and a handful of people, like 50-60 people showed up. I felt so connected with the people who made the trip because they were kind of with us and we were all going through this wild country together. It wasn't just us putting on a show. It was all of us experiencing this trip to a foreign country we had never been to together," said Kyle. This feeling of connectedness flows both ways from the band to the fans and back again. Evidence of this is found in the rapidly increasing number of Pirates, Friends of the Cheese, who volunteer to poster and flyer cities prior to a show, call radio stations to request the band's music, and inquire at record and retail stores as to the availability of the band's merchandise. In general they do anything and everything they can to spread the Cheese.

So, how does one go from gigging for ski passes to creating an International Incident and an estimated $3.5 million "family business"? Well, you have a passion and you have a plan and with a lot of hard work-- the rest of it sneaks up on you. "We have been doing this for the passion of the music," said Kyle, "and not for the inevitable getting huge or famous and it still is you see, like when you are going along living the day-to-day life and you see the crowd slowly grow as we go across the country, you don't quite get it, because you are part of it, you know, kind of this whole thing. People come up to you two months later and say, 'Oh my gosh, it's grown so much. ' And you're like, 'Oh, I hadn't really noticed. ' But when I walked on stage at Red Rocks [this summer] I looked up and I said, 'okay something is going on. ' There is a little bit of a buzz happening and it feels really good and it was definitely a high to walk on stage."

Yeah, yeah, I know-- the blues is the blues, and you pretty much know what it's going to sound like. But a little energy can get you through clichés about loneliness at 3 a. m. over mean-hearted women. If there's any fire left in King's or Clapton's bellies, though, it's not found here. Thankfully, they don't try to offer up any new versions of "Mustang Sally" or "Stormy Monday," going instead for more obscure cuts by the likes of John Hiatt or Charlie Sexton. In fact, the disc's most interesting cut, "Help the Poor," sounds closer to Santana's Latin-influenced blues than anything from the Mississippi Delta. It's too bad the rest of the album doesn't benefit from that liveliness. In its tired approach to the music that's been a lifeblood for these two men, Riding isn't a travesty, but it is a rather profound disappointment.

The spotlight here is still on that distinctive voice, which is somehow able to sound both earthly and ethereal at the same time. So even though songs like "The Consequences of Falling" and "What Better Said" (which boasts an intro worthy of Beck's last album) start off funky, they quickly ease into lang's patented high lonesome yearning. On a few tracks, when the beat is allowed too much free reign, she ventures perilously close to disco diva territory. Concepts like the Casio beeps that bounce through "Curiosity" clearly separate the latest lang from her earlier, twangier sound, and some left-of-center guitar work from Tom Waits alumnus Smokey Hormel offers an intriguing view of a lang with some rock in her step. While Invincible Summer stumbles here and there, lang deserves credit for taking genuine risks with a persona and sound that have served her well over the years.

Where is the punk scene? This elusive monster seems to be out there, yet it hides so well. It blends into the wood paneling of dark bars, it is camouflaged in deep pile orange shag carpet. This elusive beast can only be found if one is either a true punk band or a true punk fan. That's how the Dead End Cruisers pop out of the woodwork to spank you with style, true style.

Whether you like punk music or its predecessor (old time rock and roll), the Dead End Cruisers dig onto both styles like a tap root gone wild. Pure and raw, the music on this disc slowly pulses out smoky, edgy punk until you have to run out to buy a pack of smokes and a sixer of Lone Star.

Lucky enough, the listener gets to enjoy 13 of these great tunes without any kind of feeling that these guys are rip-off artists. Sure, they have that sound that many of the punk bands like Rancid and The Clash ran around with, but they also have their own sound and feel as well. This is like old school stuff with the way it churns the music and weaves the melodies.

This disc is put out on Unity Squad Records with the band working hard at their craft and making no compromises doing so. Hard work and a solid belief in the music they are making puts them heads above the rest of some talented punk bands out there. This is just the real deal to me. You get no starry-eyed "we are gonna be big stars" feel from this CD; instead, you get what feels like a muscle and commitment vibe from this and it makes you just want to turn it up even louder song after song. Maybe to eleven.
A --Tenswing

What do you expect when you get handed a CD like this? You think that another Ricky Martin is going to spring up and torture the airwaves once again. You are afraid that this guy might just go on to do soap operas as well and will be beating the chicks off with a stick. Well, this is no Ricky Martin-- this guy is talented.

Beto Hale has been everywhere around the world playing his brand of Latin music blended with soul and jazz. This Mexican-born singer/ songwriter/ musician lays down 11 tracks with versatility and smooth grooves. With seven of the songs in Spanish and four in English, one can easily get into the mood Sube lays down.

The feel is a pretty constant one here, with no visions of Beto shaking his ass to a Spanish nursery rhyme style of song. This guy would be sort of like a Spanish Dave Matthews or Peter Gabriel. Big music for a big world, with a large amount of talent on his plate, Beto Hale will be a name that will permeate the Latin scene without a skeleton called Menudo in his closet.
B+ --Tenswing