The Infamous Word

High (Sierra) Praise from Jambase

2011-07-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

"Things got crazy after 1 am, when things peaked out with The Jam of the Weekend (IMHO): a soaring, uplifting piece of group improv that took us into the stratosphere. The crowd erupted..."

read all about it

First Video Autograph!

2011-06-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

Silverback

2011-06-12T10:07:00.001-07:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Colby, KS

Tonights Show Streaming Live!!!

2011-04-14T14:06:00.001-07:00

We're at Nashville's Exit/In tonight at 9:30 CST and we're streaming it live. Just click the link: http://www.livestream.com/exitin

Rehearsal Space

2011-04-11T08:54:00.001-07:00

Infamous Krewe rehearsals:

Fox Theater

2011-04-04T17:22:00.001-07:00

Last Night

2011-03-18T10:27:00.001-07:00

Sorry if you missed it, this is what a tiny part of it looked like. The room was packed and the energy was electric. Love ole Anders Beck. no one finer:

TONIGHT IS GOING TO STREAM LIVE!!!!

we expect tonight to sell out, so our man Phil is going to stream it live via UStream:

In Gods Country in TGR Film

2011-02-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

if you're into skiing or snowboarding, you've probably seen a TGR Film. High Life was largely responsible for my bum years.

So we were psyched to discover that TGR had used our recording of In Gods Country in a short shot the same weekend as Big Sky Big Grass. It's beautiful. Even if you're not a skier, you're going to want to check this out.

booksy

Big Sky Update

2011-02-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

It's happened again. Duster down. Big Crest took a spill Friday and cracked his Tibia. Good boy! very High Country if you ask me... if any of you are orthopedic surgeons, and can hook our man up, let us know.

the snow's falling, Emmitt-Nershi Band kicked its ass last night, Ggrass played most of the first set with them. here's a little video of a sick jam from last year.

Grammy Bound

2011-02-11T08:56:00.001-08:00

Magic #9

The Infamous Stringdusters - "Magic #9" - HearYa Live Session 11/4/10 from HearYa.com on Vimeo.

YMSB

2011-01-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

last night our boys Yonder Mountain String Band rolled into Nashville and they put AHall to work. he sat in most of their incredible show. I used to drive 6 hours in the snow to see these guys, now I get to drink their Patron and rage-hippy dance right INSIDE the rail. so sick. this was my view, that's Todd Snider lurking in the back.

was reminded again why I loved this band so much back in the day. great vibes. long live YMSB!

One of our favorites

2011-01-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

I love Danny B and I love this tune.

his hands make the banjo look tiny.

Infamous Krewe

2011-01-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Have you checked out Toubab Krewe?

Soul Brothers. We're trying to figure out how we can hang with these guys some more. The Infamous Krewe. Stay tuned.

In-n-out

2011-01-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

Before

After

Surf

2011-01-18T17:57:00.001-08:00

Surf's up. This is the break we surfed today:

s

Kirkwood

2011-01-17T09:07:00.001-08:00

KFC

2011-01-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

Pandolfi gets to work on his latest.

-- Post From My iPhone

Johnny Grubb joins Emmitt-Nershi Band!

2011-01-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

If you know us, you may know that we're boys with the Emmitt-Nershi Band, Pandolfi was the original banjo player, and Railroad Earth. So it was with no small fanfare that we celebrated the announcement that former RRE bassist Johnny Grubb has joined the Emmitt-Nershi Band. Check out this press release from Johnny.

Long live Emmitt-Nershi Band.

Here's some ENB at Harvest Fest with some Stringdusters sprinkled in.

Brett Claytor

2011-01-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

The late Brett Claytor, doing his thing.

Pandaface

2011-01-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Everyone Deserves Music

2011-01-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

Michael Franti and Spearhead put out an influential album titled Stay Human, a fictional account of "Sister Fatima" as told by two radio DJ's, one played by Franti. I say influential because a friend gave me that album and it didn't leave the CD player in my '84 4Runner for 8 months. An entire ski season was spent listening to this album on the way to and from the slopes everyday and it's melodies and messages are burned into my brain. I recommend this album to anyone seeking consciousness.

On the heels of this, Franti put out the incredibly titled Everyone Deserves Music. As can happen, I was so in love with Stay Human that EDM didn't really stand a chance in my mind and I only latched on to a couple of the tracks, Bomb the World being the most powerful. The title of the album, however, has always stuck with me and must be credited for an idea I've been nurturing for awhile now. The idea that music is for everyone, the creation of especially.

A long long time ago, before recorded music, everyone sang. Everyone played. Every house had some string instrument and at least one member who could play it. Music was participatory, if you wanted to hear it, you had to make it. Sheet music arrived before recorded music as a way for individuals and groups to recreate the music they'd heard on demand. Then recorded music arrived and with it, the concept of professional musicians and the basic right, responsibility even, to create music yourself, to participate in it on a visceral level was obscured by the idea that music was something that professionals did. To put it another way, good musicianship was easy to hear, you just had to put on a record, and with that, the discussion of what was good and what was not was elevated to a cultural imperative. We've been at it ever since with publications like Rolling Stone and Spin leading the charge.

As a result of the culture of professionalism in music, amateur musicianship is disappearing. Individuals who'd otherwise pick up and scrape around on a fiddle are intimidated. They're afraid to sound bad. Even teachers of music are reluctant to teach because they fear they can't help musicians "improve." But all of this misses the point. Music is for everyone. It's to be played after the work is done, it's singing while you clean house or cook, it's something to be done with friends without judgment. Everyone can sing, everyone can play, and it's goodness is not only determined by the quality of the tones, but the quality of the experience. Judged by this standard, it's all good! Everyone deserves music. Especially you. If you enjoy listening to music, you owe it to yourself to experience the joy of creating it as well as listening to it.

Here's the 'Dusters enjoying playing Magic #9, our Grammy Nominated tune.

Ski Tour Mystery

2011-01-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Fun with Fretboard Journal

2011-01-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

We're in the midst of doing an interview for Fretboard Journal, so we've got a bunch of back-issues around. Late last night Jesse and I had a little fun with two pages...
can you name these pickers?

Official Band Vehicle

2011-01-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

In 1974, this baby rolled off the line. This afternoon I walked past it a block from where we're staying.

Pandolfi's Happy New Year video hits Sharpie Blog

2011-01-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

The Sharpie Blog picked up Pandolfi's Happy New Year video and they're featuring it on their blog. Here's the original video: