Here're some of the stories that folks on Internet have shared
about about "Bridging the Bert" at Leftover Salmon shows

Firstly, just how did this story get started?

The following is an exerpt from a message LoSer (and Leftover Historian and Merch person) Michael Henry sent to the leftover list a couple of years ago -- just after he started the list in motion.

"Bridges to Bert has a story, a meaning and an allusion, not necessarily in that 
order.  (Actually, Bert and the Bridge have several meanings, but we won't get 
into that now)... the story was born a few years ago at a place called State 
Bridge (in central Colorado, near Silverthorne).  The band had just played what 
apparently was a long, fun and crazy show. Someone who had attended the 
show decided to write a comment on a napkin saying how much fun he had had 
at the show.  The message read: "State Bridge is the Best!!!!"  Unfortunately, 
the guy was not in a very good state to concentrate on penmanship, so the last 
word actually read "Bert."

Soon, it was clear to all that the Bridge really was the Bert, and a new way of 
thinking was born.  The Bridge and Bert took on new meanings--in a larger 
sense, Bert became the embodiment of a kind of enlightenment, and the Bridge 
was the way to get there.  Of course, the band then found other Bridges which 
seemed equally capable of achieving the state of Bert-ness they sought, giving 
birth to the phrase, "Get on the Bridge!" 'Nuff said about that--needless to say, 
the Bridge represents both the long and the short path to Bert, and, after all, 
there are many Bridges... And of course, as Drew put it to me a while back, the 
Bridge IS the Bert."
Well, that's "sorta" how it happened. The bit about the scrawled message checks out, but what really happened next was that the band was having a really tough time understanding what it said, and during the party that followed, they kept wandering about trying to put the emphasis on various words and syllables in the message, BRIDGE is the Bert, Bridge IS the Bert, Bridge is the BERT! but nothing was "working" for them. A few adult beverages later the "the" turned into "to" and "Bridge is" turned into Bridges." Thus, Bridges to Bert. That was the best they could come up with at the time and like a lot of legends, it stuck around. But, WHAT was the MEANING of all this?

Yeah, yeah, it's STILL not clear... Somehow the Bert came to signify the gap(s) or chasm(s) that separate us -- things like age or race or nationality or economic status or looks or whatever -- and the "Bridge" was the bonds we build to span these differences. Vince, in particular, thought that music should bring folks together, not separate them, and, from time to time, he would wax eloquent about it. Drew has captured a similar theme in "This is the Time," which the band called "The Bridge" for a long time -- though bridge was never mentioned explicitly, it is easy to relate it to this meaning if you listen to the words carefully. In another sense, Leftover Salmon's music bridges a musical Bert -- blending just about anything imaginable from Russian folk tunes to Cajun to blues to country to bluegrass to calypso to polkas to Grateful Dead rock together -- and having a fabulous time poking fun at it all. Sometimes there seems to be no limits to this melange...

Anyway, on and on it went as their fans began to notice another kind of bridging happening at the live performances. The folks who were being drawn to this music were coming from places normally thought of as being poles apart -- their backgrounds, musical roots, ages, and customs. A wonderful feeling of tolerance for one another and the nature that surrounds us began to build. The tales recounted below are some of the observations of Bridging the Bert -- as it happened... Perhaps the examples will make things clearer.

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"The Warrenton [VA] show was great.  So much energy.  Such good people.
Such  great new friends.  It was so much fun pulling together the energy and 
good vibes of little kids and big kids in the street and on the lawn.  One 
memorable moment came while this 10 year old (or so) just watching LOS  
play.  He was in one of those states of WOW for most of the show.  It was just 
really neat to watch him.just completely connect with the  music.  I think he 
even got up on stage one time?  There was some real Bert Bridging 
going on at the show...NICE! :)" <robkatz@erols.com>

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[re Breckenridge, 11/30/96]  "...The bands that played earlier that day, (my
 wife tells me) had no one hanging/dancing near  the stage, (except the Jukes
of Zydeco ) but when Salmon got fired up, there were at least a thousand people 
stretching from sidewalk to sidewalk, and down the street to the first beer 
tent...  The crowd was way into the show, and right next to me a man had put 
his 7-8 year old daughter on top of a recycle bin ( BTW, I didn't see *any* trash 
on the ground afterwards, a very green crowd) and she was dancing away the 
whole time.   He was coaching her towards the end of Zombie Jamboree, "now 
honey, when they stop playing, scream real loud, and they'll come back, and 
play more.  That's called an encore. "  Yes, she did scream, and yes they came 
back on for an encore...  Berts were being bridged throughout the set 
with both some locals that had never heard them, and even some members of 
the Czechloslovakian ski team that I bumped into back near the soundboard.  
Vat is dis muzic kalled? (sorry no ridicule intended, their accent kind of 
sounded that way to me)  When informed it was 100% polyethniccajun slamgrass, 
they said, with a puzzled look, 'It is ver gut! Ver gut!'"  <espall@netrix.com>

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"Well - we had quite a time last night at the opening night of the three 
day festival at the Boulder Theater.

First up - Banjo extraordinaire Tony Furtado and friends (Tye North, 
Dave Watts, Sally Van Meter) served up some killer swinging something or 
other acoustic traditional blues folks-a-rama.

Leftover took the stage for their first set featuring Sally Van Meter on 
a few tunes adding her lap steel guitar to several tracks just like on 
the newly completed record. It was also Boulder's debut of Drew's 
beautiful new f-style Nugget mando. Again as you all can expect - a set 
list will come from one of the tapers...

As a special treat between sets: a somewhat traditional band from 
Northwest Russia right next store to Finland played a sprited set. 
Myularit is the band's name: pronouced Mule-a-reet (I'll check on the 
correct spelling). Most of the members are  visiting the USA for the 
first time.  It was incredible to bridge the bert with folks from so far 
away and guess what? They mostly like all of us and their english is far 
superior to our russian! The arrangement included assorted wooden 
flutes, clairinet, bagpipes, upright bass, fiddle, 12 string acoustic 
guitar, mando, and accordian. Quite a sight and sound...

Leftover made their way to the stage toward the end of their set and 
created a huge jam that included a traditional tune from their region 
and a fantastic Dark Eyes (a trad. russian tune leftover has done for 
years). I can't even begin to describe the look on Bass Player Sasha's 
face before the show when Mark started to play the melody on his banjo 
backstage! "Yu know dis toon?" in a heavy russian accent.... smiles all 
around  : truly an amazing international b t b moment! Surely one of the 
highlights of what has been an incredible year for the band!

As the members of Myularit trickled off the stage; Leftover continued a 
frenzied set for about an hour. When what do we see but the second 
emergence of musician's to the stage: 13 in all between all three bands. 
Pickestroika!!! Vince whipped everyone into a rousing Aiko-Aiko which 
the russians fell right into although they'd never heard the tune before 
the first notes that night proving that with enough will, some wild and 
crazy  stage antics, music is able to bridge any language barrier. 
Positive people power that can't be denied! I love it!!  Boy Howdy  ... 
it just keeps getting better!"  <epa@yellowpine.com>

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There one more story -- this one from Spreadnet, the WideSpread Panic equivalent of the leftover list -- that needs to be told about the possible origin of Bert. More of a rumor than a story, actually. For reasons that may become clear, the band "prefers" this version -- even if its veracity is decidely lacking.
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"I know that this isn't the Salmonnet, but I figure that since they are currently 
on the road with Panic, a little LoS chatter is permissable. The story behind 
the whole "Bert" obsession is that LoS was once playing a show at some large 
venue (I cannot recall where), and they apparently encountered a memorable 
experience.  A certain young female audience member, who had positioned 
herself close to the stage, was trying desperately to get the attention of the 
band.  She was feeling a bit uninhibited because of her pharmaceutically 
accelerated state of mind, and decided to raise her shirt to catch the eye of a 
band member. Apparently after having decided that her breasts would not 
sufficiently suprise the band, she resolved to decorate her chest with the word 
'best,' to describe the band's performance.  Only in her current state, she had a 
bit of difficulty writing 'best' on her own chest and she instead wrote '<bert>.'  
<treymcg@juno.com>

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OK, back your regular progamming...