It’s been 20 years since the inception of The Infamous Stringdusters, the Grammy Award-winning ensemble whose tone and swagger meld acoustic majesty with a full-blown rock show attitude.
To celebrate, the groundbreaking jam-grass quintet is releasing 20/20. Twenty brand new songs for twenty years. The endless miles in pursuit of a dream. The surreal, whirlwind shows of transcendence and lore. The legacy that has become truly infamous.
“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,” says 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.”
At its core, 20/20 marks an important milestone for the group, who happily exemplify sonic exploration and endless curiosity while maintaining a deep respect for musical tradition — under the bright stage lights or in the midst of a recording session.
“We’ve always been very intentional in how we wanted our show to sound and to look,” according to bassist Travis Book “And, 20 years later, we’re still distilling the best elements of what we all bring to the band.”
Alongside Pandolfi and Book, Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Andy Hall (dobro), Andy Falco (guitar) purposely and fearlessly blur the boundaries between bluegrass, Americana, country, and indie-folk.
“Bluegrass music brought us together in the first place,” says Jeremy Garrett. “And one of the big things that propels us forward is that everyone keeps pushing so hard — it keeps me incredibly motivated.”
“The creativity and discovery is never-ending,” dobroist Andy Hall adds. “If you keep the art, the music, your instrument and playing in focus, it’s infinitely-deep.”
The idea for the Dusters coalesced in Nashville in the early 2000s when the members were performing as side-men with stalwarts of the bluegrass community. Their friendships and desire to create their own music and master their own destiny inevitably led to the formation of The Infamous Stringdusters.
Even then, they sought to ignite something fresh within the “high lonesome sounds” pioneered by the “Father of Bluegrass,” Bill Monroe. And just like today, the early intent was to present something new and different.
“Bluegrass can sometimes be a little confusing,” Pandolfi says. “Because what’s coming out of the instruments has the energy of rock-n-roll, but guys are just standing there [onstage] in suits. When we came to [bluegrass], we loved the music, but the vibe wasn’t representative of who we were.”
The Dusters envisioned a crossroads where bluegrass instrumentation and vocal harmony met frenzied stage energy and awe-inspiring production. “It took a few years and some experience to let all of those things come together,” Pandolfi says. “We started to tease these things out of the music, but also out of the show, the production, and our personality.”
Each member remains a musical sponge, constantly bringing new influences back into the fold. All are involved in an array of solo projects outside of the band. Those sounds and experiences merge to form the Dusters’ signature sound with 20/20 offering the purest distillation of that experimentation and precision.
"When those individual efforts come back together in the band, it creates a really powerful synergy," Hall says. "Not only has the band evolved, but individually, I see every band member fully dedicated to their musical endeavors. All of the creative elements have gotten deeper."
“Life moves on, like our song says,” Andy Falco reminds us, “But we’re always taking what we’ve learned and what we’re experiencing and we put that into the music and the shows. Before we go onstage I like to tell the band ‘remember the joy,’ and we are all still incredibly grateful for the opportunity to make this music with each other”