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When Corey Bernhard isn’t playing stageside in the house band at “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” he’s likely at his Germantown recording studio, working out the notes of his next piece.

But now, as the late-night show is ending after more than a decade on air, Bernhard said he’s looking forward to focusing on solo projects and collaborating with the local music scene.

CBS announced plans to cancel the show last year, days after its host, Stephen Colbert, criticized its parent company, Paramount Global, for paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Bittersweet final weeks

Bernhard called news of the cancellation “kind of a gut punch.”

“Everybody at the show loves what we do and loves Stephen,” Bernhard said while speaking with WHYY News from his Germantown studio, “and is proud of the family that is over there and the product that gets put out.”

As the show enters its final broadcasts, he said he’s making sure to appreciate the time he has left with the band.

“I feel like there’s been something happening lately on the bandstand where we’re even getting to a deeper level with the music that we’re playing in that space,” Bernhard said. “Because it’s not just us who won’t be doing this anymore. It’s the whole staff, it’s the audience, it’s the crew, it’s the writers, it’s everybody.”

Bernhard said there’s been a heightened spiritual element within the band these last remaining weeks.

“It feels like we’ve almost tapped into a deeper connection with our instruments and each other in a lot of ways because we know there’s only a certain number of times we have left to do this,” Bernhard said. “When you have something like this that is put upon you that is an impactful, emotional type of adjustment to make, I do think it’s being channeled through the music.”

Eternity Ensemble gigs and building a hub in Philadelphia

The spiritual element of those performances has carried over into a series of jam sessions Bernhard is organizing with the 4333 Collective, a Philly-based live music promotion group.

The Eternity Ensemble shows will regularly take place on the last Saturday of each month, starting May 30. Earlier this year, Bernhard hosted similar gigs at Ortlieb’s, a hot dog bar and music venue in the city’s Northern Liberties neighborhood.

“Ortlieb’s is a pretty historical club in Philly going back to when there used to be jam sessions with people like Mickey Roker and Mike Boone and Sid Simmons,” Bernhard said. “To be able to have a jam session with a lot of great musicians that’s pretty improvisational, in a space like Ortlieb’s, feels like a continuation of a lot of Philadelphia musical legacy.”

And while the gigs have popped up elsewhere, like Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown, each show will benefit Juntos, a Philly-based Latino and immigrant advocacy group aiding families affected by immigration enforcement.

“I definitely believe that creating art and supporting art is one of our best defenses against fascism,” Bernhard said. “And any chance that you can get to create art or to support art or to enjoy art is in itself an antifascist act. And to be able to do that in Philadelphia, which has a very distinct spirit to me of antifascism, is something special.”

On top of the benefit gigs, Bernhard is also working on the follow-up to his recent studio album, “A Blessed Leap Into Eternity,” which was recorded in his studio alongside other projects.

“Bilal recorded his last album here that got nominated for a Grammy,” Bernhard said. “Building this as a hub for people to come and record their original music because that is one thing about Philly is that there are so many people writing music and there still, in my opinion, needs to be more people releasing that music and recording it.”

And after spending the past four years back and forth between New York and Philly, Bernhard said it “feels like there’s a renaissance bubbling,” and he’s excited to be here and take part.

“I was thinking about giving it up, to be honest with you, because I just wasn’t in here enough,” Bernhard said about his Germantown studio. “And then the show got canceled. And I said, ‘Thank God I didn’t give up this space.’”

The “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will air its series finale May 21 on CBS at 11:35 p.m. “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen” will take over the same timeslot starting May 22.