String Cheese Incident ready to play at the Alaska State Fair

PALMER — String Cheese Incident is performing at the Alaska State Fair Saturday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.

"It should be fun to play at the Alaska State Fair and connect with some of the Alaska fans," bass guitarist Keith Moseley said.

According to Moseley, this is the first time they have been up to Alaska in many years. He said they're all excited to return to the Last Frontier especially since it reminds him of Colorado, the place the band first formed 30 years ago.

"Just the openness and the wildness of it is what inspired me the most, just a real Frontier spirit," Moseley said. "It just feels familiar so that’s a fun thing."

Alaska is just one of many places String Cheese Incident has visited. Moseley said they've toured through most of the United States and performed in numerous countries across the world.

'It's great. We love to travel. This band has taken us to some amazing places. It's a magical thing that the music takes us places and helps us meet fun people along the way… Music is a great universal language that speaks with people everywhere," Moseley said.

Moseley, Michael Kang (electric and acoustic mandolin, violin, and electric guitar), Bill Nershi (lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar, and electric slide guitar), and Michael Travis (drums and percussion) are the four founding members of String Cheese Incident. Kyle Hollingsworth (piano, organ, Rhodes, and accordion) joined not long after the band was created and Jason Hann (auxiliary percussion) joined later on.

"We have a lot of time together," Moseley said.

This year marks the 30 year anniversary for String Cheese Incident.

"It's almost hard to believe we made the 30-year mark… I think we're playing better than we ever have. I just feel like we're really on top of our game," Moseley said. "We really worked hard at trying to make it succeed… It's really just a blessing being able to do it."

Moseley said their band has always had great musical chemistry and their synergy has continued to grow over the years.

"There's things that just experience brings that you can't earn any other way than spending time together. It's fun playing with guys you have so much history with. We can anticipate each others moves and we can still inspire each other."

String Cheese Incident is a band that's known for experimenting with their sound and hopping from genre to genre. Moseley said that folk, bluegrass and rock rock is at the core of their band.

"The band has always had that sort of attitude- no boundaries. We’re really eclectic musically. The sound sort of does keep evolving and changing but we're always true to our roots," Moseley said.

The newest String Cheese Incident album "Lend Me A Hand" is coming out Sept. 8. It has been described as a “poignant yet high-spirited reflection on love, loss and resilience for a sublimely stripped-back form of folk-rock."

"It's revitalizing for us,” Moseley said. "‘We’ve got some exciting things coming up… We just want to keep pushing forward and improving our craft, and we want to keep spreading the love and good vibes."

For more information, visit alaskastatefair.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com