String Cheese Incident guitarist Billy Nershi and former Zuba guitarist/singer Liza Oxnard began collaborating in Telluride, CO, in the early '90s, performing an ongoing series of duet gigs at local bars and clubs. Though the two stopped performing together after their respective bands began to make a larger mark, they kept in touch. In 1999, Oxnard began performing sporadically with
String Cheese Incident.
It's About Time documents the pair's musical relationship, capturing a number of Nershi and Oxnard originals, written solo or in collaboration. The band is rounded out by
String Cheese Incident keyboardist
Kyle Hollingsworth and E-Town Band members Christian Teele and Chris Engelman on drums and bass, respectively. The rest of Nershi's SCI bandmates also contribute, in addition to a number of local Boulder-area musicians. The music is mountain folk, cool and crisp, with warm harmonies, strummed acoustic guitars, vaguely accentuating drum parts, and grungy piano parts. Though it fits together well enough, it is almost too laid-back. Hollingworth's accordion on "Ten Miles to Tulsa," for example, might be enough to drive the tune, but the rest of the playing is simply without edge and, consequently, without momentum. The music is inoffensive and only vaguely interesting, though the extended family vibe of the sessions comes through clearly. ~ Jesse Jarnow