Chris Pandolfi, banjo man with The Infamous Stringdusters, has posted a couple of works in progress on his MySpace page.

The two tracks are tunes he has written and intends to record for a future solo project, and are presented in his MySpace music player as unaccompanied banjo recordings. One tune, Melancholy, is very modern while the other - which bears the interim title C tuning - owes more to American old time music.

I’m a sucker for 3 finger banjo played in double-C tuning, and am also a great admirer of this young man’s music, but can be objective enough to recommend dedicating a few moments to sample these tracks. Banjo players especially should enjoy hearing Chris in this intimate setting where his command of tone and his interesting compositional sense are front and center.

Jambands.com is reporting that last weekend’s String Cheese Incident reunion show at RedRocks in Colorado would seem to be its last, and that it was surely the last performance with the band by guitarist/vocalist Bill Nershi. He has joined forces with jamgrass mandolin master Drew Emmitt, and formed the Emmitt Nershi Band.

Joining Nershi and Emmitt will be Tyler Grant on bass and Chris Pandolfi on banjo. Knowing of Chris’ solid commitment to The Infamous Stringdusters, I asked him whether his time with Emmitt Nershi was during time off from his main gig.

“I’m definitely doing the Emmit/Nershi thing on the side. If the ‘Dusters don’t have another lineup change for 20 years I will be thrilled.”

Live appearances for The Emmitt Nershi band will be posted on their MySpace page.

Long time readers of The Bluegrass Blog realize that I am something of a cheerleader for The Infamous Stringdusters. I had been mightily impressed when I saw them several years ago as Wheel House. They knocked me over two years ago as The Stringdusters, and when they “emerged” at IBMA last year as The Infamous Stringdusters - with a Sugar Hill recording contract - I was sure great things were ahead for these young pickers.

Last night here in Roanoke, they packed a trendy, downtown nightspot and proceeded to demolish the assembled throng of music lovers and fans. The two sets mixed cuts from their Sugar Hill debut, Fork In The Road, with new band compositions, some bluegrass classics, and even a few songs they had just been working up backstage.

What strikes me as rare with this bunch is their ability to mix genres so smoothly, with enough progressive/modern/newgrass edge to attract younger listeners, and a sufficient amount of unadulterated grass to please the hard core purists. I saw them go from a long, jammy instrumental with a rock flavor, to a smooth and wholly traditional take on The Stanley Brothers Lonesome River.

They are clearly comfortable in this small club environment, and worked both the early evening “meet and greet” bunch and the late night stragglers with just the right vibe. The highlight for me was the very end of the show, where they encouraged everyone to leave their seats and join the band in front of the stage for a three song, unamplified conclusion. This kicked with Uncle Pen and closed with Blue Night, both showing that despite their occasional wandering from the trail Bill Monroe blazed, they are right at home with his music in a straightahead style.

The Infamous Stringdusters are Chris Pandolfi (Panda) on banjo, Jeremy Garrett on fiddle/vocals, Chris Eldridge (Critter) on guitar, Travis Book on bass/vocals, Jesse Cobb on mandolin and Andy Hall on Dobro/vocals.

Each is a superb musician, worthy of a good many pixels of praise, but I am consistently impressed in particular by the ChrisDusters - Eldridge and Pandolfi. (more…)

Fans of new young bluegrass phenoms, The Infamous Stringdusters - or anyone curious to learn what they are all about - will have several chances to see and hear them over the next few days.

They will be interviewed on GAC TV’s The Edge of Country show on Saturday (3/17). The show is hosted by Kylie Harris, and airs at 1:00 p.m. with a rebroadcast at 11:00 p.m. The show will also be shown on Monday (3/19) at 1:00 p.m., and again on Tuesday morning (3/20) at 3:00 a.m. All times are eastern.

Banjo picker Chris Pandolfi shared some thoughts on taping the segment with GAC.

“The Edge of Country was some of the first real ‘national’ media attention we have received, and the show went really well. We do many press opportunities as a full band, so it was a challenge to get everyone involved, but we did, in turn showcasing one of our greatest assets - we are a band.

It’s hard to classify exactly what we do, genre-wise, but ‘edge of country’ seems an appropriate catch-all for our music.

I asked dobroist/vocalist Andy Hall what is was like for them, with a new CD out on a major independent label after actively performing without label support for almost two years. He responded with high praise for the folks at Sugar Hill, and said that all was right with his world.

“This is a great time for us, as we have a full touring schedule and a brand new first record. What more does a picker need?”

Andy also mentioned that The ‘Dusters recently recorded a live segment for AT&T blue room, which showcases artists online with both in studio performances and interviews. We’ll be sure to post an update when that is available on the blue room site.

On Monday, the band will be in Knoxville for a live radio broadcast from the studios of WDVX. The show will air from noon to 1:00 p.m. (3/19) on 89.9 FM, and will also be available online via streaming audio.

If you just can’t get enough of The Infamous Stringdusters, you could listen to the WDVX audio stream from noon to 1:00, and then tune in to GAC and catch the interview.

We heard recently from Chris Pandolfi, banjoist with The Infamous Stringdusters. He confirmed that their debut on Sugar Hill, Fork In The Road, is still set for release in February, 2007. The CD was produced by Tim Stafford, who has shared his enthusiasm for this project - and this band - with me several times.

Chris told us that they have a five song EP/CD available now in limited release. Only a relatively small number were manufactured, and they will not be reprinted when this supply is exhausted. Two of these five songs will also be on the new Sugar Hill project, including the title track.

Audio samples for several songs can be found on the band’s MySpace page, as can a track listing for the EP and a video clip of a tune from a recent live show.

The EP is only available directly from the band, and can be ordered from their web site.

Chris also mentioned that he has been taking advantage of some time off the road writing with an eye towards another solo project before too long. His CD, The Handoff, showcases both his inventive banjo playing, and his skills as a composer.

Let’s hope he finds time for a follow-up project soon.

One of the folks I had a chance to speak with yesterday was Chris Pandolfi, banjo player with The Infamous Stringdusters. He told me that their new CD is on track for an early ‘07 release on Sugar Hill Records, and was able to respond to some speculation that has been circulating about the status of Dusters guitarist Chris Eldridge.

Eldridge also filled the guitar chair on Chris Thile’s How To Grow A Woman From The Ground CD, and with Thile publicly stating that the band from the CD would become his touring band (including in his recent interview on The GrassCast), the notion that Eldridge would bolt for a gig with Thile seemed like a fair question.

Pandolfi assured me that Eldridge was in for the duration. Bryan Sutton has been playing guitar on any How To Grow A Band dates with Thile that conflict with Stringdusters shows, and all of the Dusters are excited about their long-term commitment with Sugar Hill (4 projects), and getting to record and perform as a band.

We have spoken on The Bluegrass Blog several times about this young band, and look forward to catching their main stage showcase on Wednesday night, or at one of their many other showcase appearances this week.

Voila!! After much consternation, trial and error, and long distance coaching, it appears that I have successfully uploaded what should have been last week’s edition of The GrassCast. My apology for the delay. Hopefully this week’s episode will be uploaded on time.

Episode #38 features my discussion with young banjo terror Chris Pandolfi of The Infamous Stringdusters. We spoke last fall during the IBMA convention in Nashville about what he had been doing, and about his education at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Chris is a fascinating young man, not only for his skill as an instrumentalist, but also for his clear understanding of what making music a career entails, and his level-headed approach to doing so in his own life.

This GrassCast is 8.5 minutes in length and the file download size is 10 MB.

Below is an mp3 file for you to listen here or download. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store as an enhanced podcast containing photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.

Listen now:
Direct Download: ep38_chris_pandolfi.mp3
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