“Thornpipe” art
Andy Thorn is officially a cold leftover piece of fish.
“I just feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be doing this,” said the 30-year-old North Carolina native, “and getting to spend my life doing this with awesome people.”
Thorn, who plays banjo, joined Leftover Salmon in 2010 and no longer feels like the new guy.
Leftover Salmon, whose musical journey began in 1989, also features mandolin wiz Drew Emmitt, guitarist Vince Herman, bassist Greg Garrison and drummer Jose Martinez.
The band kicks off an extensive fall tour Sept. 11 at the Metropolitan Theatre, Morganstown, W. Va.
Jambands.com interviewed Thorn by phone from his Boulder, Colo. home to discuss a variety of topics pertaining to the band.
How was your summer? What were some of the highlights?
It’s been great. It hasn’t been too insanely busy during the summer. We kind of do weekends, so that’s pretty great. I think my favorite part was Telluride because I can drive my own car there and put the bikes on the back, all my camping gear and make a big trip out of it. And this year was supercool, because Jackson Browne sat in with us, so that was pretty unreal. He came in and rehearsed with us in the middle of the day. I didn’t even realize he was coming to rehearsals. At the condo I was staying in, I went downstairs to let the guys in and there’s Jackson Browne standing there with his guitar. That was definitely a highlight
The other highlight was a few weeks ago when I got to do the Forecastle Incident with String Cheese Incident. They got to put together an all instrumental set and I got to play banjo with Sam Bush, Josh Carter and Ronnie McCoury. That was a really cool set of music. The fun never ends.
So what was it like rehearsing and playing with Jackson?
We do this Jackson Browne cover quite a bit “Under The Falling Sky,” and Vince usually sings it, so we told Jackson that and he sang it with us this time and Vince kind of chimed in. It was a really cool moment. And not to mention Sam Bush jamming with us too at Telluride.
What can fans expect for the upcoming fall tour?
We just did that new recording for the Breckenridge Brewery partnership. Basically, it’s hard to get the band to practice unless we have a reason to or work on new material. So, I think it was smart to say: OK. We’re going to do this. We’re forced to break out new material, so everybody shows each other what songs they’ve been working on. We have all these songs now from working on this project. We’re playing a lot of that stuff now. We’re playing two or three songs from that project and we’ll be playing more on the fall tour. It’s going to be fun to break out a bunch of new material and see how it goes live.
How did the partnership with Breckenridge Brewery come about?
They’re based out of Denver and friends with our manager. They were talking and they were like: Hey, let’s partner up. So, what they come up with was releasing some of our songs through a 12-pack of Breckenridge Brewery Beer. If you buy a 12-pack, there is a coaster inside. Each song has a different coaster with really cool artwork on it and on the back is a download code for a song. We got four songs that are coming out. Each song is out for a month or two, and then, they’re going to bring in new songs. That just started, so that’s going on, all fall.
Did you write any of the new songs?
I wrote two of them. The one I’m most excited about is called “High Country.” I wrote it about a year ago while on a hike. Literally, we just started singing I want to be in the high country and kind of wrote it without a guitar and put some chords to it later that day and I finally got to show it to the guys a little while ago. And it turned out really cool because everyone sings a verse: me, Drew and Vince, and we harmonize a bunch on it.
The other song is an instrumental called “Thornpipe”: a little play on a hornpipe and my name. It’s a banjo tune and we got Casey Driessen (Bela Fleck and Tim O’Brien) to play fiddle on that. He’s an amazing fiddle player. Drew also has a really great tune and Vince does too, and there are six more songs that we recorded that are coming out at some point.
On your stop at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, you’re on a bill with Assembly of Dust and The Infamous Stringdusters. I would imagine they’ll be lots of collaboration going on that evening.
That’s going to be a really cool night. The Stringdusters are really good friends of ours. I was in a band with their bass player, Travis Book. for years and their banjo player, Chris Pandolfi, kind of recommended me to Drew six years ago and helped me get the gig, and he used to play with Drew, so I’m sure we’ll have some double banjos going on and guests up there.
Assembly of Dust are really good friends because when I was in Emmitt-Nershi Band, we did two tours together. We didn’t really know those guys that well beforehand, but we got to be really good friends and sat-in with each other each night on different tunes just to keep it fresh and mix it up, so I’m sure we’ll be doing some of that.
Will there be any special theme for the Halloween performance at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta?
I don’t think I’ve heard what it is yet, but it’s usually parade-related, costumes, the festiveness of the holiday. There will be a theme but it hasn’t been thought of yet.
If you had to take a guess?
I really haven’t heard anything. They don’t tell me. (laughing) They might have something in the works that I should have figured out. I just kind of show up and play which is a good job for me. I don’t get too involved in the planning.
Can you talk about the upcoming two-night Thanksgiving run in Boulder.
This is the third year in a row that we’re doing Thanksgiving weekend shows. There’s a lot of weekends through the year that bands set as their time to do weekend shows and I think this is a great time to do it, because there’s a great family vibe in Boulder. A lot of friends and family are back in town on that weekend. I always have a big Thanksgiving at my house and friends come from all over the country to do Thanksgiving together and hang out for the shows. That’s been going on for the last two years and I’m pretty stoked this year. I think it’s going to be the best one yet.
You grew up a fan of Leftover Salmon. Do you still pinch yourself that you’re a full-time member of the band?
It is surreal at moments, but it’s been long enough now that it’s actually real and insanely cool to be part of the songwriting for the band and to fully be in the band and not really feel like the new guy. When we play some of the tunes that I used to love back in the day from the Euphoria album and you go, “Oh yeah, I listened to this a 1,000 times in high school,” so it’s fun to be up there making music.
I probably saw them 10 times, whenever they were in town. I didn’t travel to see them, and that was probably from the ages of 15 to 20. After that point, I was always in my own band and didn’t get to as many shows. I saw them up at MerleFest, Cats Cradle and Swamp Fest.
What was your favorite song?
It’s hard to say. I really dug “Highway Song,” from the Euphoria album. It starts with a banjo roll, so it’s fun to play that for sure.
Can you describe what happens that allows you to no longer feel like the new guy?
Time and the attitudes of the other guys. They make you feel right at home and just try to have as much fun as possible. And being let into the songwriting and the singing. Those were things that weren’t going on when I first joined the band. Now, I’m getting more involved which is really great.
How have Drew and Vince helped you along this ride?
Drew’s been real great to me. I joined him in the Emmitt-Nershi Band five years ago. We became really good friends, more than musical friends. He’s kept me working the last five or six years. And also we’ve had a ton of fun all around the country playing music, skiing, and hiking. And just being on stage with a singer and picker that good, you just have to step-it up a little bit – it’s forced me to work really hard. When you’re singing next to Drew and Vince, it stands out if you’re not up to their level, which I’m not, but it forces you to step up.
And Vince is the most fun guy to jam with. Before I was in the band, he was living in Nederland and I was living in Boulder and I would stop by his house after I was done skiing in Eldora. We would have these jam sessions and that’s how I got to know Vince. His attitude about music is my style too. It fits my attitude – not taking it too seriously – but also playing really well and having fun with it.
How are Drew and Vince different?
Vince is more playful and Drew’s a little more serious. Drew’s songs are more epic and Vince’s are more fun and when you combine them together it’s the perfect mix of everything.
How would you describe the songs that you write?
I think it’s just a mixture of everything too. I’ve been influenced by these guys since I was kid and a lot of the music they listened to, I was listening to. We’ve all had the same influences with slight differences. There’s a lot of my North Carolina influence in there too.
Early in your career, you played with Larry Keel and Natural Bridge. What kind of influence did Larry have on you?
He had a huge influence on me. I joined his band when I was 22, right out of college. I was actually touring with him during my last semester of college. He’s from Virginia and they have this amazing repertoire of tunes – old traditional stuff – and that’s one of the most amazing things about Larry. He knows these really cool tunes, Getting to learn how he plays them stylistically was a really good experience. A lot of them are tough and they’re really different. They’re kind of like gems that a lot of people don’t do and don’t hear often. I was on the road with him about a year and a half and it was my first band on the road, just figuring it out but those guys played so fast. I don’t know if you heard him play, but he’s probably the fastest guitar player alive. Keeping up with the speed and intensity was something to get used to.
What’s it like playing in the Emmitt-Nershi Band?
It’s a lot different from Leftover Salmon. It’s just the four guys in the band when we’re traveling. We don’t have a sound guy or road guy. We don’t have much gear. We have our instruments and we plug them in and that’s pretty much it. It’s really pure. It’s more acoustic but we still take the jams way out there. It’s really creative without using the amps, pedals and electric guitars.
In that setting, you get to be around Bill. What have you learned from him?
Billy knows how to build up a jam really well. When I first joined the band, I was more of a picker. I liked to improvise but I didn’t do many long jams. The way he builds his jams from start to finish – I definitely took some notes there and learned about that.
