Looking for something good: The Infamous Stringdusters roll into WNC
The Infamous Stringdusters will play Asheville Dec. 30-31.
Daniel Milchev photo
It’s been 20 years since the inception of The Infamous Stringdusters, the Grammy-winning string act whose tone and swagger encompasses an acoustic majesty coupled with a full-blown rock show attitude.
“When you’ve been a band for 20 years, a lot of things change, including your perspective on how to create music and art,” said dobroist Andy Hall.
“When you’re first starting out, there’s an intense desire to create and you’re just ‘going for it.’ As you go along, your time is more precious, where writing and making music together is more focused.”
To celebrate, the groundbreaking jam-grass quintet will release its latest album, “20/20,” on Jan. 26. Twenty songs for 20 times that the calendar has been swapped out on the walls of time. Those endless miles in pursuit of a dream. The surreal, whirlwind shows of transcendence and lore.
“We’ve been around for 20 years, and I feel like we’re putting more into our music — both writing and the live shows — than we ever have,” said banjoist Chris Pandolfi. “And the reality is, that you do need to step a little harder on the gas to get the same results — it takes real intention.”
“The world is our oyster, as far as what we want to create and what we want to do,” Hall added. “And bluegrass continues to be a foundational thread that we come back to, album after album — it’s exciting.”
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At its foundation, the album marks this important milestone for the group that happily exemplifies sonic mischief and endless curiosity amid a keen sense of musical tradition — under the bright stage lights or in the middle of a recording session.
“We’ve always been very intentional in how we wanted our show to sound and to look,” Pandolfi said. “And, 20 years later, we’re still working at distilling the best of what it is we all bring to the band.”
Alongside Hall and Pandolfi, Jeremy Garrett (mandolin), Andy Falco (guitar) and Travis Book (bassist) round-out the all-star lineup that purposely blurs the boundaries between bluegrass, Americana, country and indie-folk.
“What got us together in the first place was bluegrass music,” Pandolfi said. “And one of the big things that keeps us together is the fact everybody is pushing so hard — it keeps me incredibly motivated.”
“[The creativity and discovery] is never-ending,” Hall added. “If you keep the art, the music, your instrument and playing in focus, it’s infinitely deep.”
Initially, the idea for the Dusters bubbled up from the friendship of Hall and Pandolfi, all while they were students at the famed Berklee School of Music in Boston. Each trying to figure out what their future may look like.
Even back then, when the duo eventually landed in Nashville, they were looking to strike fire somewhere, anywhere within the “high lonesome, sound” created by the “Father of Bluegrass,” Bill Monroe. And just like today, the early intent was to present something new and different.
“Bluegrass is a little confusing sometimes,” Pandolfi said. “Because what’s coming out of the instruments is rock-n-roll as hell, but guys are just standing there [onstage] in a suit. When we came to [bluegrass], we loved the music, but the vibe wasn’t representative of who we were.”
Pointing to early influences like Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident and, most importantly, Yonder Mountain String Band, the Dusters aimed to locate this crossroads, one where the intricate nature and mastery of bluegrass instrumentation could be channeled through a modern lens of frenzied stage energy and awe-inspiring production.
“It took a few years and some experience to let all of those things come together,” Pandolfi said. “We started to tease these things out of the music, but also out of the show, the production, and our personality.”
“When you have this shared knowledge and understanding you’ve built up for 20 years, there’s intuition, where you’re starting at this place further along,” Hall added. “And with that already established, you’re then free to explore a little bit more with this sort of safety next of the band and your years of playing together.”
Nowadays, the Dusters themselves are considered pioneers and trailblazers in the jam-grass realm, this continually moving target of sound and tone. One foot firmly planted in tradition, the other tapping along mightily to the endless possibilities of what can be conjured and captured — either in the depths of the studio or simply in the heat of performance.
“As we’ve gotten a little bit older, we’re seeing what’s happening with bluegrass, and how great the bands are getting,” Pandolfi said. “Well, guess what? That inspires us to dig even deeper into ourselves to figure out what we can do, what we are.”
Within the ensemble, each member of the Dusters remains a musical sponge of sorts. All are involved in an array of solo projects outside of the band, only to circle back with a constant stream of inspiration — with “20/20” offering the essence of that experimentation and precision.
“And when all of those individual efforts come back together into the band, it creates a really powerful synergy,” Hall said. “Not only has the band grown up, but individually, I see every band member becoming a master in everything they’re trying to do, whether it’s their instrument or writing. All of the creative endeavors have gotten deeper.”
For Pandolfi, who also takes his first real dive into songwriting on “20/20,” what ultimately remains between he and his bandmates is this common goal of persistence and passion, one where gratitude and grace swirl around a continued intent to explore, discover and cultivate deep from within.
“Life is coming at us and changing,” Pandolfi said. “But the attention to the music and the shows? It’s just really cool to share that desire and keep pushing that front further ahead this late in our career — and I hope we always do that.”
Want to go?
Renowned jam-grass act The Infamous Stringdusters will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30, at The Orange Peel in Asheville.
Doors at 6 p.m. Ages 18 and over. Tickets are $44.10 per person (tax included). For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit theorangepeel.net.
As well, the group will also be opening for The Avett Brothers at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville.
Doors at 7:30 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit harrahscherokeecenterasheville.com.
