String Cheese’s Billy Nershi to Play North Dakota

Former String Cheese Incident band member, Billy Nershi, will play a rare up-close-and-personal gig at the Crosstown in Grand Forks and at the Aquarium in Fargo this week.  The acoustic guitar/lap steel player has been putting his energies lately into bluegrass music. Nershi began to step away from String Cheese, founding Honkytonk Homeslice with his wife talented wife Jillian in 2004, and later adding singer and guitarist Scott Law. As a trio, they had the flexibility to adapt, sitting in with acoustic bands like the Del McCoury Band, Railroad Earth, Hot Buttered Rum, and Assembly of Dust, but also with multi-genre rockers ALO and New Monsoon. Then, a couple of years ago, Nershi teamed up with Drew Emmitt from Leftover Salmon, forming the Emmitt Nershi Band with Chris Pandolfi on banjo and Tyler Grant on bass.  This year, the Emmitt Nershi Band played Rothbury in Michigan over the Fourth of July weekend. 

Recently, Nershi has been touring with Head for the Hills, a sweet, four-piece newgrass group from Ft. Collins. They played to a sold out house at Colorado’s Mishawaka Amphitheatre and drove fans into a dancing frenzy at Yarmony Grass, near Vail, CO.

Nershi and Head for the Hills will be swinging into North Dakota this week for AquaFest. The Crosstown Lounge in Grand Forks will host a special AquaFest Pre-Party on Friday, August 29. Opening for Head for the Hills and Nershi will be Stealin’ Strings, an acoustic progressive rock band from Milwaukee. Things will start happening around 9 pm. Tickets are $10 at the door.

Then on Saturday, August 30, the Aquarium and Dempsey’s in Fargo will sponsor a whole slate of acts with short sets, starting at 6 pm.

Here is the lineup for The Aquarium.
6 pm Heatbox
7 pm Billy Nershi
8 pm Fat Dad
9:15 pm Stealin’ Strings
10:45 pm TBA
12 midnight Head for the Hills w/ Billy Nershi

Here is the lineup for Dempseys.
8 pm WBPN
9:15 pm Johnson Family Band
10:30 pm The Legionnaires
11:45 pm TBA
1 am Heatbox

Tickets are $20 Door or $17 in advance