One of the nation’s foremost bluegrass bands, The Infamous Stringdusters, will be headlining Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island Tomorrow. James Justin & Co. will be opening the show. This will be The Infamous Stringdusters’ second show in Richmond this year.
One of the nation’s foremost bluegrass bands, The Infamous Stringdusters, will be headlining Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island Tomorrow. James Justin & Co. will be opening the show. This will be The Infamous Stringdusters’ second show in Richmond this year.
The National was host to The Infamous Stringdusters back in March. Travis Book, bass player and vocalist for the Stringdusters, says they have enjoyed the few experiences they’ve had in Richmond. “Richmond is awesome. There is incredible outdoor community, they have mountain bike trails, some really great breweries in the area. And I’m the only one that lives in Virginia now, but being able to play in the neighborhood is great. Richmond is just a sweet spot,” said Book.
The Infamous Stringdusters will be conveying their signature bluegrass sound on the road this summer; a niche sound that has garnered a substantial following in the past years–not just for the Stringdusters, but for other “new grass” groups as well. “I think it’s a great time to play bluegrass,” Book said. “People all over really dig it. Virginia has always been one of our best markets. The further north and the further west you go, the more people are into it, which is sort of counterintuitive. There’s something unique and foreign about it if you don’t grow up around it… Bluegrass has so much history in the southeast, there’s a lot tied up with that. There’s a lot of preconceptions about the music and what it should sound like. But you head up North and out West and people are super open-minded about it. From our perspective it’s a great time to play acoustic music.”
Photo by Cindy Hegger Photography
This bluegrass sound is the aesthetic that the band has been striving to master since the conception of the band. “When we got together we had a vision for what we wanted to play, which was very string band and bluegrass related,” said Book. “All of us came from different backgrounds; we have someone who was a blues and rock guitar player, we have someone else who was a metal guitar player… we all arrived at bluegrass through different channels.”
After releasing their debut album, Fork In the Road, in 2007, they received high praise from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IMBA). They won best emerging artist, album of the year, and song of the year. But Book says this didn’t but pressure on them to make it happen again. “It was nice when we first started to be validated, of course… As far as living up to it, it’s never really been a problem. We really believe in what we do and awards are nice, but music isn’t really a contest. Those awards were bestowed on us and we didn’t feel like we were going out of the way to do anything special for them.”
Since the release of their most recent album, Silver Sky, The Infamous Stringdusters have endured a steady touring schedule that now continues through the summer. “The touring is great, it always is,” Book said. “Shows have been full and we’ve been getting exposed to a lot of new people. That’s basically all we ever do is tour and play shows.”
Photo by Tom Daly
This summer the band’s schedule consists heavily of festivals. Included in their plans is Floyd Fest in Floyd, Virginia. “We played Floyd Fest probably five years ago and it’s been a long time since we’ve been back,” Book said. “It’s a great festival. It’s had it’s up and downs and they’ve learned a lot of things in the last few years. It’s one of the biggest festivals in the area, so it’s definitely exciting to be going to Floyd Fest again.” They are also in the fourth year of hosting their own music festival, The Festy, in Roseland, Virginia. Other acts on this year’s lineup for The Festy include: JJ Grey & Mofro, The John Scofield Uberjam Band, and Marco Benevento.
In the midst of their current touring schedule, the Stringdusters are also working on a new studio album due out next year. “We’re still tracking, but it’ll probably be out in March,” said Book. “We’re always working on music. Some of the songs that we’re working on now were written before Silver Sky was even recorded, so it’s kind of a perpetual thing for us. We have a great producer and we work with him all the time. We just try and get in the studio and record whenever we have stuff we want to make a recording of. We’ll record a lot more than we need for this record and we’ll just grab the stuff that fits best.” The majority of the album will be recorded at Echo Mountain studio in Asheville, North Carolina, but Book says they’ve been working with some studio time in Virginia as well.
The show tomorrow night is scheduled to start at 6:30pm with James Justin & Co., and The Infamous Stringdusters will be closing out the evening starting at 8pm. It should be an enjoyable show filled with ear-grabbing three part harmonies and musical breaks that allow for the band’s tight instrumentals and enjoyable twang to really shine through. Come down to Brown’s Island tomorrow to see them for yourself.
For more info on the show, click here: http://www.venturerichmond.com/events/venture/cheers.html
