Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman finds his way in Nashville — with help from a few country songs

During the height of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Vince Herman — co-founder of bluegrass-y and Cajun-inspired jam band Leftover Salmon — wanted to take a road trip.

He hopped in an RV, crisscrossing America for months as the venues often frequented by his longtime band remained silent in wake of the ongoing pandemic.

Eventually, Herman rolled into Nashville. What greeted him? A handful of songwriters, ready to pick a few notes.

"I ended up in Nashville, I believe, for a month," Herman told The Tennessean. "I bumped into all this co-writing stuff. Man, I didn't know why I didn't get here a long time ago. I'm lovin' it."

For Herman, a few co-writing sessions snowballed into an unexpected solo career. He relocated full-time to Nashville, scored a publishing deal and soon hit the studio with ace record-maker Dave Ferguson to cut "Enjoy The Ride," a debut album of country, folk and bluegrass songs from Herman.

"Enjoy The Ride" debuted late last year via LoHi Records.

A collection of plain-spoken stories told with an unassuming depth and attention to life's small, important details, Herman enlisted longtime friends Donnie Davisson and Chris Davisson of Davisson Brothers Band, plus songwriter-guitarist Pat McLaughlin, breakout artist Aaron Raitiere, bluegrass player Ronnie Bowman, singer-songwriter Adam Hood and more to perform or co-write on "Enjoy The Ride."

Herman approached the sessions unaware of his so-called "street cred" from years in the jam-band scene; an open-armed appreciation greeted him as he began navigating co-writing and studio time.

"These writer guys I would hang with, they grew up listening to Leftover Salmon," Herman said. "How the hell did that happen? They were aware of my stuff. I was kinda surprised by that, honestly."

And on "Enjoy The Ride," Herman said he embraced a country storytelling previously unexplored during his years on stage with Leftover Salmon. He delivers toe-tapping singalongs (like title track "Enjoy The Ride"), reflective folk ("Lost Lover's Eyes") and soul-swaying ballads ("Old Pictures").

"We've been doin' Cajun and bluegrass and all kinds of stuff stylistically in the Salmon," Herman said. "To me, country music contains all that stuff. I think the definition of country music got a little narrow, so in this solo record I really set out to exemplify what I think country music is."

As for what could be next for Herman in Nashville? More writing, of course.

"I'm finally just looking at havin' some time off," he said in December, "And I'm thinking, 'Man, it's writing season.' ... I'm psyched to have some time off to dig into writing again and think of the next record."