Leftover Salmon’s Greg Garrison Talks New Album 25, Beer, and the Band’s Big Boulder Theater Shows

Estimated read time 8 min read

Leftover Salmon 2015-1Photo by Jay Blakesberg

When two bands called The Salmon Heads and Left Hand String Band came together 25 years ago on a fateful New Year’s Eve, there was no such thing as “jamgrass;” the term “jamband” hadn’t even been coined yet and groups that would come to define the genre were in their infancy or not yet born. Leftover Salmon would come to be one of those defining groups with other bands like Phish, The String Cheese Incident, and Widespread Panic. Although they have self applied the label “Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass,” which is way cooler than jamband or jamgrass, Leftover Salmon was, perhaps unknowingly at the time, the progenitors of a genre that has not only come to prominence in Colorado but has swept across the country.

It has been an interesting 25 years for Salmon, with heavy touring, a brief hiatus, the loss of a founding member along with more than a few personnel changes, all while influencing a whole new generation of jamgrassers. To celebrate 25 years, Salmon teamed up with another Colorado institution who happens to turn 25 this year, Breckenridge Brewery, to craft a unique brew and also give fans a unique way of obtaining the new live album, 25. Listen Up Denver! was fortunate enough to chat with bassist Greg Garrison for an exclusive interview while the band was in Florida to talk about celebrating a quarter century, the beer, and Leftover Salmon’s big Thanksgiving shows at The Boulder Theater.

Although he’s originally from the Chicago area, Greg Garrison is a Coloradan through and through. When we caught up with him, he and the band were preparing for a show in in St. Petersburg, Florida on a week long run through The Sunshine State. But the only place the sun shines for Garrison is in Colorado where he lives and teaches music at UC Denver. After wrapping up the interview we told Greg to go enjoy the beach and he told us to “enjoy Colorado!” Garrison’s enthusiasm about Colorado is an extension of his band’s. Leftover has always represented C-State and from the very beginning created a scene here that has not only endured but also flourished.

Leftover Salmon was formed when guitarist Vince Herman’s The Salmon Heads needed some folks to fill in for a New Year’s show they were performing in the quintessential Colorado town of Crested Butte. Herman enlisted the help of his friends The Left Hand String Band, who featured a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer named Drew Emmitt. At the dawn of the 90’s the band performed as Leftover Salmon and a 25-year (and counting) musical journey began.

Now, 25 years on, it was from that musical journey that Greg Garrison began to cull material for what would become the band’s newest live album, 25. Although the record contains material recorded in the past three years, Garrison was given the task of curating, mixing, and producing that material in a way that captured the full 25 years of the band. No little feat, but Garrison, the ever-prepared music teacher, was already gearing up for the task. “We started with a big pile of shows from the last three years. I kind of started digging through all of the shows and also while when were on the road if we were recording the show I would try and keep notes of tunes we might want to put on the record and performances that we thought were cool,” said Garrison. Given the task of selecting the material from an overflowing font of live recordings, Garrison established some criteria before wading into a sea full of Salmon so to speak.

“As far as specific tracks, I was trying to balance things that hadn’t necessarily been on a live record with things from the entire catalogue that may have been on studio records but hadn’t been represented on a live album,” said Garrison. “And there’s also a couple of nuggets that people who have been following the band for a while will appreciate, covers we don’t do very often. Thankfully, I had 25 tracks to work with. It made it easier to balance the sound of the band in the past couple years, especially the Bill Payne (Little Feat) stuff, with a representation of the entire catalog. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Our soundman Mario Casilio and I worked really hard on mixing it and getting the sound just right. There’s also some cool improvisational jams on the CD that haven’t necessarily popped up on our other stuff.” Documenting shows from the Bill Payne era was important, as we shall soon see. But back to the number 25, which is fortuitous for another reason. 2015 happens to be the 25th anniversary of another Colorado institution.

Leftover Salmon first collaborated with Breckenridge Brewery nearly three years ago when they released their studio album Aquatic Hitchhiker. “Breckenridge provided all the beer for our block party to celebrate the release of Aquatic Hitchhiker. That’s when we started to get to know each other. After that they put out some studio tracks that eventually wound up on our latest studio album High Country as a promotion for one of their beers and the band. As we got to know each other and we both realized that it was the 25th anniversary not only for us but the brewery, it just kind of made sense to collaborate on a beer,” remembered Garrison. Earlier this summer Leftover Salmon helped Breckenridge open their new brewery in Littleton with a performance and a preview of that collaboration, Silver Salmon India Pale Lager. The somewhat unusual beer had us wondering what that collaboration process was like.

Beer is a serious thing in Colorado; Colorado beer tastes are just as diverse as our blooming population. That diversity in beer carries over into bands, which can be, interestingly enough, microcosms of the larger population. That being said, Leftover Salmon was very involved in the crafting of Silver Salmon IPL according to Garrison. “Right before we played the Stanley Hotel last March we went down to the old brewery location. We sat down with the brewer and talked about what flavor profile we were looking for and what styles we liked.” And then the best problem in the world arose. “He definitely took input from everybody because there’s some of us in the band like myself who tend to go for stronger stuff. I’m definitely a Colorado beer drinker. I love microbrews and good craft brews, good IPAs with lots of hops. You know, gnarly beers. Then there’s other guys in the band who would rather drink a Corona or a Miller Lite or something [laughs], which is no problem. So the brewer was tagged with that impossible task of trying to satisfy everybody and I think he got pretty close! It’s not too heavy but definitely still has a bite to it. It was a really interesting experience.” Greg certainly seem to know his beers but don’t take his word for it, get down to a liquor store and pick up a bomber of Silver Salmon IPL, not only because it’s a great beer, but also because as of now it is the only way you can get a copy of 25.

While the album will go on sale through the normal digitals outlets on November 27th, if you want a copy now you’ll have to buy the beer. It’s really a win win situation. But if you want to hear Leftover Salmon in their element, head on down to the Boulder Theater this weekend for what is quickly becoming a Colorado Thanksgiving tradition on par with The Last Waltz Revisited. Like any tradition, Leftover has some special plans for the 2-night run. They will be having a pre-party at The Lazy Dog in Boulder on Friday and a special intimate acoustic performance at Hazel’s liquor store on Saturday, where you can pick up Silver Salmon IPL packaged with 25. Greg also outlined some of the special events planned for The Boulder Theater. “The Jeff Austin Band is gonna be there and they’re all good friends of ours so I’m sure there will be some collaborations and sits-ins going on with them. Bill Payne, who is not touring with us full time anymore because he’s in the process of joining The Doobie Brothers, will be in Colorado for the Thanksgiving shows so it will be great to play with him again. One of the bluegrass ensembles that I direct at UC Denver is going to play a little bit on Saturday before Jeff Austin Band. They’ve been working on a bunch of John Hartford stuff all semester so it will be a full on John Hartford set.” If Salmon is trying to start a Thanksgiving tradition they’ve certainly got the right ingredients: friends, family, John Hartford, and of course Leftovers.

LEFTOVER SALMON
w/ Jeff Austin Band

The Boulder Theater
November 27th & 28th
Tickets: $32
PURCHASE FRIDAY
PURCHASE SATURDAY

Nate Todd

Nate Todd was born on the central plains of Nebraska, but grew up on the high plains of the Texas panhandle. With not much to do in either place, music was his constant companion. His parents dubbed the first two albums he ever owned onto a tape for him. Side A was Bert and Ernie’s Sing Along. Side B was Sgt. Peppers. His lifelong love affair with music started early as he practically grew up in a Rock & Roll band, with his father and uncle often taking him out on the road or into the studio with them. Nate began performing live at sixteen and hasn’t looked back, having played in numerous bands from L.A. to Austin. At the age of twenty he was bitten by the writing bug, and upon moving to Denver decided to pursue a degree from Metropolitan State University where he recently graduated with a B.A. in English and a minor in Cinema Studies.

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