For bands that have been working together for 10 years there is a lot of growth that goes on within the music, the people and the world around them.
The Infamous Stringdusters, who are set to play at the university this Wednesday, have been experiencing and doing just that. As a Grammy-nominated bluegrass group, they have a uniquely modern sound and they are specifically focused on always coming up with something new.
“Once we get in the studio we just start cranking on it and you get a pretty good idea quickly of what’s meant to be and what might need work so it’s a pretty organic process,” Chris Pandolfi, the band’s banjo player, said.
Pandolfi has been playing the banjo for about 20 years and says that although he plays a lot of other instruments that the banjo is his focus.
“The banjo is a particularly complicated instrument so it requires a lot of practice, technique and attention to detail,” Pandolfi said.
The other members of the band include Andy Falco on guitar, Andy Hall on the dobro, Jeremy Garrett on the fiddle and Travis Book on the double bass. The five of them started together in Nashville, Tennessee with their common interest in the bluegrass scene.
“We got to that point where we were trying to figure out, okay, what’s the next step?” Pandolfi said. “You know, after music school and asking how do we make this into a real thing? That’s when we dropped what we were doing and got the band rolling.”
Today the members are more spread out with several of them in the Colorado area. They always come back together for tours, one of which they are currently on right now for their latest album release in January. The album, “Laws of Gravity” is their seventh one and is receiving some great attention.
“It marks your biggest moment of attention, press and publicity when you have a new album that comes out,” Pandolfi said.
Though the band continues to keep busy with their music even when they do not release a new album by continuing with tours and playing shows.
Their show at UW is scheduled for March 21 at 8:00 p.m. in the lower level of the Wyoming Union. The concert is free and The Infamous Stringdusters said they are looking forward to playing in Laramie.
“Colleges have a lot of young people with great energy,” Pandolfi said. “And we love coming out West, we love coming to Wyoming. People in smaller towns have a great energy for music than some bigger towns.”
In 2015 the band was nominated for a Grammy for Country Instrumental Performance of the Year for one of their previous albums. They have also won three International Bluegrass Music Awards for their past work. When it comes to hopes for the future the band plans to just keep doing what they have been doing in the past.
“We want to be the most famous band in the world, ever,” Pandolfi said. “I mean we want to grow and afford ourselves opportunities to sing and make the best art that we can.”
Pandolfi said they are lucky to have already created a lot of great work in the time they have been playing together.
When it comes to their performances, Pandolfi said every night is a unique journey with a lot of uplifting energy. They try to play new songs every night and they stream all their concerts live on their website along with all their prior performances.
“We just want to grow in that grass-roots way and be able to do this thing forevermore,” Pandolfi said.
