The six members of the Infamous Stringdusters trooped into our temporary studio at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown, and our audio guy extraordinaire, Aaron Lee, proceeded to crawl on his belly like a reptile to set them up. Not a small feat for Aaron at 6'8"! What we ask him to do is a complicated process that is painstaking, and almost not able to be accomplished in the allotted time. Major pressure to get it right the first time, knowing there is another artist on the way, and another after that. Someone, while watching us and learning of us recording 36 bands in 3 days, once surmised that we were doing this on a dare. Nope, this is how we function when there are a lot of musicians around. We try to spread the Music Fog love as far as we can, in an effort to bring you the most music that we can squeeze in, and still get 5 hours of sleep a night. Truth is, I think Aaron might have the hardest job when we are on site, as he is in perpetual motion. We have to make sure he eats! But the sound that he gets is truly amazing. Of course it doesn't hurt to have the caliber of talent that we get to come visit us!
"The Infamous Stringdusters epitomizes the ethic of today's young 'new-grass' artists. Their instrumental virtuosity is front and center, but it's paired with an insouciant curiosity for everything from shiny Nashville harmonies to jam-band wonkery." - Los Angeles Times
Do you know we Foggers have a "word of the day?" Well we do, and today's is insouciant. YES! Travis Book, Jeremy Garrett, Andy Hall, Andy Falco, Jesse Cobb, and Chris Pandolfi make beautiful music together. Jamming music. Riffing on a theme music. And they take you on a trip. They have a new CD out called, Things That Fly, and they are embarking on a tour in November with thrash-grass band Trampled by Turtles, who also have a new CD out called Palomino. So the tour is being called "Fly Palomino." But first comes The Festy, The Stringduster's own two-day event happening on Columbus Day weekend in Nelson County, VA. That is southwest of Charlottesville, where my Grandmother met my Grandfather, but that is a whole other story. Cool lineup, with Railroad Earth, Josh Ritter and The Love Canyon String Band, Tony Rice Unit, and others joining in. But back to the matter at hand, a tune from the Infamous Stringdusters' new CD that transfixed us as we recorded it in our studio at the 2010 Americana Fest in Nashville. "You Can't Stop The Changes," this ain't your granddaddy's bluegrass, as their press release says, "...unless your granddaddy is Jerry Garcia."
- Jessie Scott
