Thurs 2/25: Emmitt-Nershi and Zepparella in Vail tonight

Mar 10, 2010 by Anonymous

It should be a fun night in Vail as two national touring acts come into town. In the village, Emmitt-Nershi Band play at Samana. With years of collective experience under their belts, Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi exemplify the forward-thinking modern bluegrass musician. As linchpins of two legendary jam-bands –Drew with Leftover Salmon, Bill with the String Cheese Incident–both men have done the stadium-filling, high-profile rock ‘n’ roll thing to perfection. Along the way, however, they’ve honed their songwriting and playing chops and studied the bluegrass, rock and jazz masters they admire. Above all, Drew and Bill have shared a commitment to keeping music human-scaled and honest. Those qualities are found in abundance on their latest and greatest collaboration, New Country Blues–11 tunes made in Newgrass heaven. I’m sure there will be a Nersh led group hug or two throughout the evening.

Then, just down the street at Sandbar is Zepparella, four women intent on bringing the passion, the beauty, the aggression, the musicality of Led Zeppelin alive.
Zepparella delivers an explosive, emotional musical journey at every event. They take on the challenge of balancing their devotion to playing the songs as close to the original as possible, while taking advantage of their own musical communication and carrying the audience away on the ride.
The combination of personalities in Zepparella is something extraordinary. From the first time on stage there was such a strong musical connection that to the girls it felt like a homecoming. And in a musical career, that kind of connection may be the most elusive gift of all.