“I’m trying to figure out where they’re playing next,” he says. “I was going to do the whole Grateful Dead thing and follow them around and sell grilled cheese sandwiches in the parking lot. I just don’t know if they mix up their sets enough for me to do it.”
The stalwart String Cheese Incident keys player is being facetious, but he’s a serious Death Cab fan and included a nod to the band in the form of the title track of his latest solo album, All We Are, which drops today — Friday, August 1 — via SCI Fidelity Records.
The latest record from Kyle Hollingsworth of the String Cheese Incident is out now.
Courtesy SCI Fidelity Records
“We were just trying to shake things up a little bit, like, ‘You can get your funk on later with Kyle on the rest of the album, but let’s do something different and unique,’” he says of what became the first single.
Other teasers — “Colorado” and “Waiting On Time” — are more in line with what his fans, especially Cheeseheads, might expect. A longtime Boulder resident, Hollingsworth wrote a love song to his adoptive home state with “Colorado,” a tune he initially come up with while hiking around his Frisco abode with a ukulele.
Kyle Hollingsworth explores several sonic territories on his first full-length in seven years.
Courtesy Big Hassle Media
“There’s something about living in Colorado and a mountain town that’s really special,” Hollingsworth continues, pointing to activities like nighttime cross-country skiing. “Those are the moments where I’m so psyched to be alive.”
Then there are such tracks as “Lost In The Mirror” — what Hollingsworth calls “an homage to my daughter and her growing spirit” — and “Carnival,” a song he originally wrote for String Cheese that morphed into a tribute to the early days of the legendary Crested Butte jam band.
“I love the String Cheese Incident. It is my mothership, as I call her. My side project is a satellite, a little smaller ship,” he says.
His first solo studio album in seven years, All We Are sees Hollingsworth flex his musical muscles, while still showcasing his signature keys and organ playing. He also handles accordion and the aforementioned ukulele throughout the album. While writing between String Cheese and his independent output can be challenging at times, it’s the best way to express himself.
“It’s me just playing around with different styles, it’s me playing with the paints and sometimes spilling some over on the carpet,” he explains. “It’s a matter of exploring different sonic landscapes. The new album is a little all over the place musically, but maybe that’s all we are (wink). It’s a little bit of a Hodge-podge.”
As a veteran brewmaster as well, Hollingsworth believes making music and craft beer have a lot in common, too.
“It’s always been part of my passion. When I was homebrewing, I found a connection between music and homebrewing; you get it under your fingers, you get the basics, then you riff or improvise and you have fun seeing what the outcome is,” he says. “Sometimes it’s the best solo you’ve ever taken or the worst beer you’ve ever made. It’s in the experimentation, it’s in the jamming.”
That’s why he decided to team up with the St. Louis-based 4 Hands Brewing Company as part of the All We Are release and come up with a special craft beer. While the recipe is still being perfected, Hollingsworth knows it’ll be an IPA.
“That’s my jam,” he says.
Then there’s Kyle’s Brew Fest, an annual shindig at Longmont’s Wibby Brewing Co., on Saturday, September 6, that’ll serve as a proper release party. Rodriquez and Denver musician Jennifer Hartswick will be part of the festivities, but more beer collabs and special guests are yet to be announced.
Hollingsworth worked with Wibby before on an IPA-style lager that was available at Red Rocks during a previous String Cheese run.
“Wherever I have a show I try to sneak in a beer element,” he says. “So why not make my release party a beer festival and have collaborations with breweries.
“It’s my two passions, so why not connect them?” he concludes. “People can enjoy a beer with the music.”
All We Are is available on all streaming platforms.
