If you want bluegrass that both understand’s the genre’s past and its future, the Infamous Stringdusters are one of the few that can truly deliver. Of course, to even call them simply bluegrass is to limit the scope of their singular creations. “What we do is a hybrid of the improvisational and bluegrass worlds.  We take a lot of pride in that.  While our music is our own concept, hopefully it does justice to the amazing components of the bluegrass world,” says the Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi.

No matter what label you want to give this band, the essential truth is that they make music that is thoroughly real. “You can’t fool an audience,” says guitarist Andy Falco.  “There’s a yearning for real stuff in our time right now.  Pop music is so perfect today but it’s sterile and the feeling inside it is being lost.  When I listen to The Band, the background vocals aren’t perfectly lined up but it’s perfect in its imperfections.  That’s what you want to hear.  That’s where something grand unfolds.  That’s grandma’s spaghetti and meatballs.  When you’re younger you think you want the Spaghetti-Os but really you want what grandma is cooking up.  As we grow as a band, we reach for more of those home cooked moments in the studio, in concert, in everything we do.”

For tickets and more info on the Infamous Stringdusters, with Nicki Bluhm, at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco, click here.