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For the Infamous Stringdusters’ fiddler and vocalist Jeremy Garrett, 2007 was truly a “blur of highlights.” Dobroist/vocalist Andy Hall says the year came off better than anyone in the band ever imagined. Now, on the eve of the release of their self-titled second album, the Infamous Stringdusters have had a chance to reflect on their individual high points.
For mandolinist Jesse Cobb, it was standing on stage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for the first time. For banjo player Chris Pandolfi, it was welcoming newgrass hero David Grisman to their stage at the famous Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California. And all six of the Infamous Stringdusters will always remember October 4, 2007. That’s the night they won all three of the International Bluegrass Music Awards for which they were nominated: Emerging Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. Their debut record, Fork in the Road, was arguably the most successful bluegrass release of 2007.

In the midst of a frenetic touring schedule, the time arrived for the band to record their second album. In January 2008, they holed up in Nashville’s famed Hillbilly Central studio with roots music pioneer Tim O’Brien in the producer’s chair. The resulting CD is self-titled, a move usually made on debut albums; but as they’ll tell you, this project feels like a debut album in its own way. Because the most remarkable thing of all that happened in 2007 was that, after all the hard work, the Infamous Stringdusters truly became a band.
“We just learned to play together better and I think we’ve learned to be a little more fearless,” says Jesse Cobb. “We used to change our sets up at really traditional bluegrass festivals, but now we just kind of do what we do. Two thousand seven was about being more ourselves in pretty much every way.” Andy Hall concurs: “We learned about each other, about each individual in the band,” he says. “Everything became really smooth, and the result was much better music.”

2007 also saw the band’s recruitment of Andy Falco, a gifted flatpicker whom Garrett and Hall had known for years through Northeastern festivals like Grey Fox. Falco joined the Stringdusters in the late summer, and according to bassist/vocalist Travis Book, “It ended up giving the band a lift I don’t think anybody anticipated. It was almost like the sails finally filled up completely.”
That’s pretty much been the trajectory since the Stringdusters emerged from a web of musical, personal and professional relationships so common in the bluegrass music universe. The band’s genesis can be traced back to 2002, when Andy Hall, Chris Pandolfi, and original guitarist Chris Eldridge met in Boston. They knew they had musical chemistry, but their lives were too out of synch to start a band until they all found themselves in Nashville in 2004. By then, Hall had been in the band of acclaimed bluegrass singer and songwriter Ronnie Bowman, where he met Jeremy Garrett and Jesse Cobb. Together, this newly-formed alliance of superpickers searched for the right bass player, who wound up being Travis Book, a product of the Colorado jamgrass scene. The departure of Eldridge in 2007 led to the addition of Andy Falco, whose blues-infused style perfectly complemented the Stringdusters sound.

So whereas Fork in the Road was made during their potent formative stage, The Infamous Stringdusters represents a band that has matured during two years of intense touring, woodshedding and jamming. Stunning virtuosity, polished harmonies, and a versatile repertoire have become the Stringdusters’ trademarks -- and all are interwoven in this new record to create a sound that is all their own; and which promises to redefine progressive bluegrass.

Song selection was driven by the band’s collective desire to add fresh and diverse material to their repertoire. With one exception, none of the songs included on the record had ever been performed live by the Stringdusters.

The one crowd favorite that did make the cut was “Lovin’ You,” a moody and unconventional work by Grammy-nominated writer Sarah Siskind. Most of the new songs are the work of the skilled writers within the band itself. Andy Hall’s spirited “Well, Well” captures a character stuck in limbo between desperation and optimism. Jeremy Garrett shows his unique ability to craft memorable and dramatic melodies with his contribution “When Silence is the Only Sound.” Travis Book penned three songs, including the sentimental “Bound for Tennessee,” which seems destined to become an Americana classic. Rippling original newgrass instrumentals came from the hands of mandolinist Jesse Cobb (“Golden Ticket”), banjo master Chris Pandolfi (“Glass Elevator”) and Hall (“Black Rock”). The carefully chosen cover songs include “Four Days In July,” a stirring Civil War tale whose harmonies and vibe seem especially “Dusterish” according to Hall, and “Get It While You Can,” composed by Bad Livers mad genius Danny Barnes, which lets Book tear into his finest vocal yet.

“This band is definitely not about one member,” says Garrett. “It’s about the whole… It’s a unit.” That cohesion is built chiefly on the road, performing in front of audiences, says Pandolfi. “What’s unique about this band is that there are six very distinct voices. It doesn’t live and breathe until you get it on stage. Live performance is our thing; we like to take chances every night and do things differently, and the only way to move that process along is through experience.”

With The Infamous Stringdusters, the band has put on record the dynamic of intimacy and virtuosity that distinguishes their live shows. The album is both a nod to traditions and a challenge to conventions, proving that the Infamous Stringdusters’ combination of innovation and experience has truly molded a new level of newgrass music.