VARIOUS ARTISTS
Pickin' On The String Cheese Incident (CMH Records)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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With multiple volumes in the "Pickin' On" series already devoted to the Grateful Dead and Phish, it seems inevitable that the folks at CMH would eventually turn their attention to The String Cheese Incident, one of the leading lights in what's now at least the third generation of jam bands. This time around it's a true various artists collection, with CMH house string wizard David West leading his crew through four of the tracks and Alabama's Rollin' In The Hay and a group featuring guitarist John Jakubek splitting the remainder. The variety of groups is a welcome innovation for the CMH series, and the musicianship is at a uniformly high caliber. The album closes with a David West original that fits comfortably among the String Cheese covers, another innovation that's becoming a refreshing habit on CMH. Hey, he plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass and writes good tunes - maybe it's time for CMH to crank out that tribute to David West.

Meanwhile, here's a tribute album that the honorees can be proud of.

Track List:

Texas * MLT * Pirates * Close Your Eyes * Round The Wheel * Little Hands * On The Road * Outside And Inside * San Jose * El Queso Grande

© 2002 - Shaun Dale