Born in Missoula, Montana, and raised on a 40-acre ranch at the foot of Patte Canyon, Herbig and his family lived in a one-room building with a wood stove and kerosene lamps. They got their water from from Patte Creek, which is full of rainbow trout.

In the fifth grade his school music teacher Roy Lyman chose the clarinet for him. The Herbigs were a prominent musical family of professional musicians, so at 14 he joined the union and began working. He attended the University of Montana on a clarinet scholarship and then moved to Hollywood in 1969.

As a studio musician he has played on hundreds of movies and TV shows and more than 1,000 records. Aside from "Cheers" his TV work includes "Knots Landing," "The Young and the Restless," "Rosanne," "Home Improvement" and "Showtime at the Apollo."