If you've been around the Colorado bluegrass scene for a little while, you likely have a "Vince Herman story." Herman, a founding member of Leftover Salmon, has been a fixture on the local and national music scene for three and a half decades. His jovial charisma and love of life are undeniable, and if Vince is involved, you better believe it's going to be a party.
I can close my eyes today and go back to 1999, where I first heard Leftover Salmon's The Nashville Sessions CD in my college dorm room. I was instantly hooked and knew that I had to see them live. That following spring, as I searched the web via dial-up internet in my parents' basement, I discovered that Leftover Salmon was hosting a festival in my home state of Missouri. "Salmon Fest" was to be held in Lesterville, MO. I had lived in Missouri my whole life and had never heard of Lesterville, let alone knew where it was. Not to be denied, a buddy and I printed off Mapquest directions and made the nearly five-hour drive to attend the "Fester in Lester," as it was quickly coined. While I doubt that I'll ever return to Lesterville, I'll never forget that incredible weekend of music, which started my 25-year passion for attending summer music festivals.
After spending my college years cultivating brain cells, I spent my post-college years parting with some of them while skiing and playing apres' ski gigs in Vail. In 2005, after finishing up a gig on Bridge Street, my friends and I quickly hustled out of the bar so we could catch the end of the "Vince Herman & Friends" show at the Samana Lounge. Having nowhere to store our instruments, we brought them down the steps and into the small music club.
As the night grew late, I knew that there were only a few songs left, and this would probably be my only chance to get on stage with a living legend. While I had never met Vince before that night, something told me this particular setting, in a tiny ski town bar, might present itself as a rare opportunity for me to share the stage with a living legend.
In between one of their final songs, I simply walked up to the small stage and asked if my buddy (who was a ripping banjo player) and I could sit in. Vince smiled and said, "Well yeah! Get on up here!" I was not an accomplished mandolin player by any stretch of the imagination, but Vince was so graceful and had us stay up for the final two songs. I remember texting so many friends before I went to bed, telling them, "I PLAYED WITH VINCE HERMAN TONIGHT!"
Fast forward to present day, after several decades of living here in Boulder County, Vince now calls Nashville home.
"It kind of started last October. I was on an RV trip and ended up getting a publishing deal here, so I bought a house!" As if buying a new house in a new city and being a frontman for a national touring band, Herman recently put another music project together called, The High Hawks.
Along with Herman, The High Hawks include Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans), Brain Adams (Deadphish Orchestra) and Will Trask (Great American Taxi).
"It was just a bunch of friends who loved hanging with each other, looking for a way to make music together," Herman chuckled. As spinoff "super groups" are becoming more popular amongst the heavy hitters in the bluegrass scene, The High Hawks are taking the unique approach of only playing music that they have written for this particular project.
"We figured since we had a bunch of new material, we might as well cut a record," Herman added.
There are few genres of music where you can find a musician on a sold-out stage like Red Rocks one week, then see that same musician with a different band in a small, sweaty music club the following week. It's both fascinating and beautiful. I may be biased, but in my opinion, it truly shows the humility of musicians in this scene.
"The crux of the joy of the High Hawks is that we would have an absolute blast, even without a crowd, but the smaller venues do present a chance to connect with the crowd in a unique way," says Herman.
The High Hawks self-titled debut album is available on all major streaming platforms and hopefully to a Colorado venue near us soon!