The Infamous Stringdusters and the Hurricane
The Infamous Stringdusters – Berkeley Café
Raleigh, NC
September 5, 2008
For those not “in the know”, the Infamous Stringdusters are a contemporary bluegrass sextet comprised of some of the hottest young pickers in the scene. I first became hip to the band after learning Chris Eldridge, currently guitarist for Chris Thile’s innovative classical meets bluegrass project the Punch Brothers, was the original guitarist for the Stringdusters. Right around this time I recorded an episode of the Stringdusters off Woodsongs (See Episode 425 for video and audio download). Needless to say I was quite impressed, downloaded off iTunes (since I could not find it in stores) their debut CD “Fork in the Road” and have had them on heavy rotation ever since.
While perusing the list of shows at the record store across from NCSU campus, I noticed the Stringdusters were playing the Berkeley – I had no idea since I don’t regularly check their schedule. In the meantime I tried to spread interest for the show to at least 15 or 20 people.
Not able to get anyone else to go, I headed out to the Berkeley amidst the wind and rain from Hurricane Hanna. Immediately when I walked in, someone struck a conversation with me about Leftover Salmon (I was sporting a shirt) and talked to the show’s promoter about bringing the Emmitt-Nershi Band to one of the Raleigh venues. Appropriately enough with all the rain as I was walking away from the bar and into the room with the stage, Leftover Salmon’s “River Rising” (version off Leftover’s Euphoria CD, not the version of Drew Emmit’s new CD) was blaring from the PA speakers.
The Stringdusters opened up (I think) with “Won’t be Coming Back” off their new self titled album. The crowd was digging every solo, especially from new guitarist Andy Falco and dobro extraordinaire Andy Hall. Jesse Cobb, sporting a Cadillac Sky shirt – bluegrass group coming to the Berkeley in a couple of weeks, simply shredded his mandolin, breaking strings on 2 occasions early on in the show. Rounding out the band are Jeremy Garrett (vocals, fiddle), Travis Book (vocals, bass) and former Emmitt-Nershi banjoist Chris Pandolfi.
The Dusters put on a heckuva show all night with their tight harmonies, master musicianship, and their jams that often seamlessly segued from one instrument to the next in a manner that I’ve never quite seen. The band could have benefited a lot from their soundguy turning the PA volume a bit more, as it was often times hard to hear the entire band, especially Pandolfi. I believe the crowd (including myself) would have been into the music more if the volume was at a more “show appropriate” volume, nevertheless it was a great show.
Songs played that I recall:
No More To Leave You Behind
Fork In The Road
Moon Man (last song before encore)
Dream You Back
Won’t Be Coming Back (first song?)
Well, Well
When Silence is the Only Sound
Bound for Tennessee
Get it While You Can (quite a groovin’ rendition)
You Can’t Handle the Truth
Jeremy gospel tune
For the encore, the band came off stage and brought their instruments to the crowd playing strictly acoustically. Great way to connect with the audience as I have seen the Hackensaw Boys and Chatham County Line do the same thing.
After the show I purchased a shirt, the “Fork in the Road” CD (which I’ve listened to 50+ times according to my iTunes) and Andy Hall’s ‘08 release “Sound of the Slide Guitar” (review) which had Deep Elem Blues – so I had to get it. I had a chance to talk to Jeremy (who actually took my order via credit card), Andy Falco & Chris Pandolfi…all down to earth guys.
I finished the night at the Hibernian Pub with a couple of work friends. Our waitress was quite forgetful with our orders, but being quite easy on the eyes, all was forgiven. By 1:30 as I was leaving, the hurricane, wind and rain were in quite full force.
Tags: Hurricane Hanna, Infamous Stringdusters
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