The Infamous Stringdusters are a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band. The band first emerged in 2006 with the limited release of a five-song extended play CD ''The Infamous Stringdusters,'' followed in 2007 by their first album ''Fork in the Road.'' Both of these were on Sugar Hill Records. The band consists of Andy Hall ( Dobro), Andy Falco (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

), Chris Pandolfi ( banjo), Jeremy Garrett ( fiddle), and Travis Book (

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

)."About"
, biography page from thestringdusters.com The band has become known for a complex, distinctive, and groove-friendly sound along with a bluegrass theme. The Infamous Stringdusters won three awards at the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

Awards Ceremony in October 2007: Emerging Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for ''Fork in the Road'' (in a tie with J.D. Crowe & the New South's album ''Lefty's Old Guitar''), and Song of the Year for the album's title cut. The band was also nominated for 2011 Entertainer of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. In 2011, "Magic No. 9" (from ''Things That Fly'') was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

. In 2018, they won the

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...

. In 2021, the band was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Bluegrass Album category for their album "A Tribute to Bill Monroe."

Formation

The creation of the Infamous Stringdusters is first based on the relationships that banjo player Chris Pandolfi, dobro player Andy Hall, and former guitarist

Chris Eldridge Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He is also the guitarist in the house band on Live From Here. He was a founding member of the ...

formed while in Boston, Massachusetts. Hall, Pandolfi and Eldridge were students at Berklee College of Music. Pandolfi and Eldridge soon followed Andy Hall to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, where they met Hall's Ronnie Bowman Committee bandmates Jesse Cobb (mandolin) and Jeremy Garrett (fiddle). The group then held an audition for a possible bassist in the fall of 2005, where they found Travis Book. Book had been residing in Durango, Colorado. Eldridge soon departed in 2007 to join

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

Punch Brothers Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and sponta ...

and was replaced by guitarist Andy Falco. In October 2011, Jesse Cobb announced his departure from the group. Cobb cited mental and physical stress as the reason for his leaving days before the release of ''We'll Do It Live''.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2007: ''

Fork in the Road Fork in the road may refer to: * Fork (intersection), the point at which a road branches into two * Fork in the road (metaphor), a metaphor for making a decision Film and television * ''A Fork in the Road'' (TV series), a 1992–2006 Australia ...

'' ( Sugar Hill) * 2008: ''The Infamous Stringdusters'' (Sugar Hill) * 2010: ''Things That Fly'' (Sugar Hill) * 2011: ''We'll Do It Live'' (High Country) * 2012: ''Silver Sky'' (High Country) * 2014: ''Let It Go'' (High Country) * 2016: ''Ladies & Gentlemen'' (

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...

) * 2017: '' Laws of Gravity'' (

) * 2019: ''Rise Sun'' (Tape Time) * 2020: ''Dust The Halls'' (Americana Vibes) * 2021: ''A Tribute to Bill Monroe'' (Americana Vibes) * 2022: ''Toward the Fray'' (Americana Vibes)

Extended plays

* 2006: ''The Infamous Stringdusters'' (Sugar Hill) * 2013: ''Road to Boulder'' (High Country) * 2015: ''Undercover'' (Lumenhouse) * 2017: ''Undercover Vol. 2'' (Lumenhouse)

Singles

*2014: "I'll Get Away" (High Country Recordings) *2016: "I Believe" feat. Lee Ann Womack (

) *2016: "This Ol' Building" (

) *2016: "Gravity" (

) *2017: "Just Like Heaven" (Lumenhouse) *2017: "Golden" (Lumenhouse) *2019: "Somewhere In Between" (Tape Time) *2020: "Deck the Halls" (Americana Vibes) *2020: "Little Drummer Boy" (Americana Vibes) *2021: "Cold Beverage" ft. (

G._Love Garrett Dutton (born October 3, 1972), better known as G. Love, is an American singer, rapper and musician best known as the frontman for the band G. Love & Special Sauce. Biography Dutton, the son of a banking lawyer, was born in the Soci ...

) (Americana Vibes) *2021: "Toward the Fray" (Americana Vibes) *2021: "Hard Line" (Americana Vibes)

Live albums

*2019: ''Live From Covington, Kentucky'' (Tape Time)

Music videos

Awards

Grammy Awards

The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. They celebrate artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards - music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement.

International Bluegrass Music Awards

Performance-centered awards recognizing outstanding achievement and pioneering effort in bluegrass music. Presented by the

Live performances

Live performances have become the main focus of the band. The Infamous Stringdusters focus their recording on how their tracks will play live, with audience interaction. During live shows, the Stringdusters are known to take to their

Jam Band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often ...

roots and visit long improvisational and instrumental sets. The band uses these long, improvisations to showcase every member's individual talents, through solo performances or other methods. The band also records almost all of their live shows and posts them on nugs.net.

Current members

*Andy Hall - dobro (2006-present) *Andy Falco - guitar (2007-present) *Chris Pandolfi - banjo (2006-present) *Jeremy Garrett - fiddle (2006-present) *Travis Book - double bass (2006-present)

Former members

- guitar (2006-2007) *Jesse Cobb - mandolin (2006-2011)

Reception

Throughout the Stringdusters' years touring, the group has been described as "a future supergroup," "phenomenon," "intricately improvisational," and "flawless" by bluegrass critics. The band's music is described by many to walk the fine line between soft traditional folk and bluegrass songwriting and resilient jamming. Among all of the group's released recordings, ''The Infamous Stringdusters'',''Things That Fly'' and ''Laws of Gravity'' have been the most critically acclaimed. At the end of 2011, the Stringdusters were named one of the top-trending bands of the year, just behind the Foo Fighters,

The Wood Brothers The Wood Brothers are an American roots band consisting of brothers Chris (upright bass) and Oliver Wood (acoustic and electric guitars), as well as multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix. Their music is a combination of folk, gospel, blues and jazz. ...

, and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

References

External links

* *
Infamous Stringdusters collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Infamous Stringdusters American bluegrass music groups Musical groups established in 2007 2007 establishments in the United States Progressive bluegrass music groups