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About the most important question a young bluegrass band faces right out of the gate is whether they can play. The Infamous Stringdusters wasted no time in providing their answer an emphatic yes winning IBMA Album, Song and Emerging Artist of the Year in 2007, the same year they released their debut, Fork In the Road.
On Things That Fly, their third album, due out April 20 on Sugar Hill, the band ventures into virtually uncharted territory for an acoustic group: a sonically and thematically expansive album that lends itself to absorbed listening from start to finish, much like the great rock albums do.
Holed up in the Charlottesville, VA studio Haunted Hollow, with significant pre-production under their belts and Gary Paczosa (Nickel Creek, Dixie Chicks, Tim O'Brien) on board as engineer and co-producer, the 'Dusters did things they'd never done before: guitarist Andy Falco put his hidden keyboard talents to use on smoldering organ parts; voices and instruments alike were splashed with reverb; and, though the band has no shortage of quality lead singers in fiddler Jeremy Garrett, dobro player Andy Hall and upright bassist Travis Book, a few fine-singing friends added novel tones, including country standout Dierks Bentley, Americana songwriter-chanteuse Sarah Siskind and Crooked Still frontwoman Aoife O'Donovan.
Factor in that every member of the band rounded out by de facto tour videographer Chris Pandolfi (banjo) and Jesse Cobb (mandolin) is a stylish, consummate picker with a hardly strictly bluegrass background, as well as a skilled songwriter, and you see that this band is genuinely built for breadth. “We wanted to make sure everyone had writing input on the record," Hall relates. “We'd never done that before, and it's a lot of why we started the band."
Surprising covers, unusual arrangements and other departures from the expected make Things That Fly something different - namely a sign that they've elevated their sound and set their sights higher than ever before.
The Infamous Stringdusters Tour Dates
02/10/10 Wed Railyard Alehouse Billings, MT
02/12/10 Fri Big Sky Resort Big Sky, MT
02/13/10 Sat Big Sky Community Pavilion Big Sky, MT
02/16/10 Tue Ghost Ranch Saloon Steamboat Springs, CO
02/17/10 Wed Ghost Ranch Saloon Steamboat Springs, CO
02/18/10 Thu Mesa Theater Grand Junction, CO
02/19/10 Fri Eccles Conference Center Logan, UT
02/20/10 Sat The State Room Salt Lake City, UT
02/21/10 Sun The Spur Park City, UT
02/25/10 Thu The Shedd Eugene, OR
02/26/10 Fri Wintergrass Bellevue, WA
02/27/10 Sat Wintergrass Bellevue, WA
03/17/10 Wed Black Oak Casino Tuolumne, CA
03/18/10 Thu Crystal Bay Club Casino Crystal Bay, NV
03/19/10 Fri Grass Valley Center For the Arts Grass Valley, CA
03/20/10 Sat Don Quixote's Felton, CA
03/21/10 Sun Freight & Salvage Coffee House Berkeley, CA
03/22/10 Mon Largo Los Angeles, CA
03/24/10 Wed El Rey Theater Albuquerque, NM
03/25/10 Thu Community Concert Hall Durango, CO
03/26/10 Fri Sheridan Opera House Telluride, CO
03/27/10 Sat Hotel Colorado Glenwood Springs, CO
03/28/10 Sun Swallow Hill - Daniel's Hall Denver, CO
04/15/10 Thu Old Settlers Music Festival Driftwood, TX
04/16/10 Fri Old Settlers Music Festival Driftwood, TX
06/17/10 Thu Father's Day Bluegrass Festival Grass Valley, CA
06/18/10 Fri Father's Day Bluegrass Festival Grass Valley, CA
07/16/10 Fri Summer Music Festival At Roseberry Mccall, ID
07/19/10 Mon RockyGrass Lyons, CO
07/20/10 Tue RockyGrass Lyons, CO
07/21/10 Wed RockyGrass Lyons, CO
07/22/10 Thu RockyGrass Lyons, CO
07/23/10 Fri RockyGrass Lyons, CO
