Songs From The Road is a loosely-knit side project band that features members of such noted touring acts as Steep Canyon Rangers, The Emmit Nershi Band, Shannon Whitworth and the Refugees, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Town Mountain, Super Grit Cowboy Band and The Grit Pixies.

Their debut CD, Songs From The Road, was released in 2006, produced by Charles Humphrey III of Steep Canyon Rangers, who also played bass.

A second project is in the works, Songs From The Road Vol II - As The Crow Flies, is due on January 15, 2009. A download-only, three song EP will be released shortly featuring a sneak peek of material from the upcoming CD. It will be available from CD Baby and iTunes.

The lineup on the new CD has Charles on bass, Mark Schimick on mandolin, Andy Thorn on banjo, Nicky Sanders on fiddle, and Sam Wharton on guitar. Guest vocalists include Robert Greer, Lance Mills and Shannon Whitworth.

One song from As The Crow Flies can be heard now on the band’s MySpace and ReverbNation pages. The songs is Taxman, and the lyric is one that may grab the attention of a lot of folks in the US during an election year.

Taxman, taxman leave me alone.
Stop knocking on my door ’cause there ain’t noboby home.

Long Road, the new CD from former Leftover Salmonite Drew Emmitt, is due out next Tuesday (7/15) on Compass Records.

The bulk of the songs are Emmitt originals and the core group of musicians include Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Tyler Grant on guitar, Eric Thorin on bass, Jeff Sipe on drums, Steven Sandifer on percussion, and Emmitt on mandolin and lead vocals. There are also guest appearances from Bill Nershi and Andy Hall on resonator guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and Tim O’Brien, John Cowan and Darrell Scott on vocals.

Audio samples can be found on Drew’s MySpace page and on the Compass Records web site.

Jambands.com is reporting that last weekend’s String Cheese Incident reunion show at RedRocks in Colorado would seem to be its last, and that it was surely the last performance with the band by guitarist/vocalist Bill Nershi. He has joined forces with jamgrass mandolin master Drew Emmitt, and formed the Emmitt Nershi Band.

Joining Nershi and Emmitt will be Tyler Grant on bass and Chris Pandolfi on banjo. Knowing of Chris’ solid commitment to The Infamous Stringdusters, I asked him whether his time with Emmitt Nershi was during time off from his main gig.

“I’m definitely doing the Emmit/Nershi thing on the side. If the ‘Dusters don’t have another lineup change for 20 years I will be thrilled.”

Live appearances for The Emmitt Nershi band will be posted on their MySpace page.

The summer of 2007 will feature a brief reunion of the popular jamgrass group Leftover Salmon, who disbanded after the 2004 season. They will perform at two larger festivals in July, The High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA and the All Good Music Festival in Masontown, WV.

Featured on these reunion shows will be Drew Emmitt, Vince Herman, Jeff Sipe, Greg Garrison, Bill McKay and Noam Pikelny.

There are no other dates for this summer currently announced, but the band has a form on their web site where fans can sign up for email updates.

If you are a fan of jam bands then chances are you are a fan of Leftover Salmon and this DVD may be just the thing for you. Years In Your Ears tells the story of the band beginning with the “Early Days” and taking you for a ride upstream with the band. You’ll see performances of some of their most loved tunes at venues such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. You’ll also see interviews with other artists in and around the jam band scene. Yonder Mountain String Band, String Cheese Incident, Sam Bush, Hot Rize, Peter Rowan, Bela Fleck, John Cowan and more, are all interviewd on this DVD.

The DVD includes the full length documentary “Years In Your Ears” along with Drew Emmitt & Vince Herman interviews, the artist interviews mentioned above, other extra video tracks, Taper’s Choice audio selection, and features both stereo 2.0 and Dolby 5.1 surround mixes.

The DVD is available for purchase online from CageFree Records.