LEFTOVER SALMON Jam-band members go solo for a while

The mandolin player hopes the scene evolves.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
For nearly 15 years, Boulder, Colo.'s Leftover Salmon netted a devoted group of followers to its self-described Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass.
Like several other veteran jam band artists, the band is shelving its full plate of group activities to pursue other creative endeavors and spend a few more days at home with families rather than on the road.
"It was just a matter of time before we needed to give this band a break," said mandolin player Drew Emmitt. "In a lot of ways, it's a good thing. I think we all need to do some solo things. We need to explore some other musicians and get some space from this. It's been a very all-encompassing kind of band."
Solo album
The change in his schedule has finally allowed Emmitt the opportunity to promote his 2002 solo album, "Freedom Ride." For this he assembled an all-acoustic band that has hit the road to play a combination of originals and covers that focus on a more pure version of bluegrass than the style developed over the years in Leftover Salmon.
Growing up in Tennessee, Emmitt basked in the roots of bluegrass yet picked up influences from classic rock as well.
"I saw the mandolin not only as a bluegrass instrument, but also as a rock instrument. It works very well as both. That's for sure."
Although he has been steadily using the instrument as a bridge between genres in Leftover Salmon and collaborations with the rock act Cracker, he is definitely excited to concentrate on one style during his current tour and the recording of his next solo effort in January.
Jam-band evolution
Emmitt hopes that by the time he gets this out of his system, the jam-band genre will be markedly different from the one left behind after Leftover's final pre-hiatus date this New Year's Eve.
"It's amazing what's been created by everybody, but somehow the jam-band scene needs to evolve to something else. Maybe the songs need to have a little bit more going on than just two chords for 45 minutes. We certainly noodled around at times, but we've always focused more on songs and trying to really say something.
"The Grateful Dead had a lot of substance. They didn't just noodle. They had songs with great words. I think a lot of that has been lost. A lot of people have just picked up on that they jammed for a long time. Well they did, but they also had great tunes. And I think that that's been missing from the jam-band world."