Like many of the world's most revered and popular musicians, The String Cheese Incident's pianist/keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth could be accused of being more than a bit obsessed with his instrument and his craft.

Hollingsworth is wholly committed to playing and exploring music. Over the seven years he has toured with The String Cheese Incident, he's become quite a pro at sneaking into the practice spaces at local universities-spaces he calls the "nerd wing"---where he'll practice for several hours before or after the band's shows.

It's part of a learning process, an exploration of music that started some 25 years ago when he began cranking out originals and Who covers on his front porch, and one that continues with the release of Never Odd Or Even, Kyle's debut solo release.

Hollingsworth was 12 when he first started playing music in front of an audience. The "audience" was actually passing drivers on his street: he and his friends would set up their instruments--with Hollingsworth on Wurlitzer--in front of his house, playing originals and such covers as The Who's "I Can't Explain."

As a teen, Hollingsworth joined the psychedelic rock group Black Friday. The band's sizeable following and mix of styles, everything from The Doors to Joy Division, scored them a record deal with a local Baltimore label.

Growing up, Kyle delved deep into the music favored by his many siblings; The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Little Feat, Yes, Grateful Dead and Dixie Dregs records that for years filtered down the stairs and through the walls of the family's house--were especially memorable. But it would be the Talking Heads and the Cars that Hollingsworth would claim as his own favorites.

Hollingsworth's musical course changed directions as he collected his degree in jazz piano performance at Baltimore's Towson State University. While still a member of Black Friday, he began studying the music of such jazz giants as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson, and began playing in both jazz and rock groups.

Then, after spending multiple summers in the early '90s helping dig the Colorado Trail, Hollingsworth came to consider the Front Range his new home. He moved west in 1993 and quickly gelled with a number of Denver- and Boulder-based musicians, including drummer Dave Watts and Ross Martin. After his then-band Durt opened a gig for the still young String Cheese Incident, SCI mandolinist Michael Kang invited Hollingsworth on a run of West Coast shows, which soon transformed into a full-time spot in the band.

In addition to his work with The String Cheese Incident and this solo project, Hollingsworth has played extensively with 'Meters' bassist George Porter Jr., with members of the Headhunters in Mike Clark's Prescription Renewal, and with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh when he toured with his band in the summer of 2000.