The Infamous Stringdusters are one of the more high-powered acts that exist on the fringes of Bluegrass music. Ten years as a band, the Stringdusters have built up an impressive following with albums and live shows that are upbeat, fun and fueled by amazing musicianship.
The members of the Stringdusters (Andy Falco on guitar, Travis Book on bass, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Jeremy Garrett on fiddle and Dobro master extraordinaire Andy Hall) are in their 30s/early 40s, so they have been influenced by the open-minded Newgrass generation of pickers that came before them, such as Jerry Douglas, John Hartford, Tony Rice, Béla Fleck and others. But their roots are still in the Bluegrass music they heard and witnessed when they were younger. Falco was a Rock guitarist when his brother talked him into going to a Bluegrass festival, where he ended up sitting close to the legendary guitarist Doc Watson for a life-changing experience. Meanwhile, Hall was a guitar student at the Berklee College of Music who eventually decided to pursue the square-neck Dobro after witnessing a festival workshop by the late Mike Auldridge and Tut Taylor.
Adding Rock and even Reggae influences to their progressive Bluegrass sound, a patented Stringdusters show is full of high-energy acoustic jams. The band’s most recent studio album (its sixth overall) was last year’s Let It Go, but fans can always find a constant flow of live shows to listen to at thestringdusters.com and elsewhere online.
THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS play Wednesday at Covington's Madison Theater. Tickets/more info here .
