Fasten your seat belt before you play “Things That Fly,” the latest release by the Infamous Stringdusters.
If you go
Infamous Stringdusters with Paul Curreri (Thursday) / Andy Friedman (Friday)
When: 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday
Where: Iota Club and Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
Info: $15; 703-522-8340; iotaclubandcafe.com
This album may fall in the alt-bluegrass category, but it is so filled with elements from other formats that it’s bound to be a crossover favorite. You have to admire a band that stretches their musical sensibilities beyond its prescribed borders despite winning acclaim including three International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. “It’s been a couple years and it’s been a couple of albums. This is our third and we wanted to try to figure out what was the most natural, organic way to make something different, better, that reflected our growth as a band,” banjo player Chris Pandolfi said. “We wanted an album that brought together the band’s most unified ideas about music.”
Although the players in the band are among Nashville’s finest, they make it clear they have plenty of rock/pop/and indie sensibilities. Any doubters need only listen closely to the music on this album that draws heavily on the sound from U2’s “Joshua Tree.” Besides a remake of the song “In God’s Country,” you’ll hear U2’s influences on some of the band’s original songs, too.
“The idea to record “In God’s Country” came one day when we were riding in the van and listening to U2,” Pandolfi said. “We tried it and tried it a couple years ago and it just didn’t work. During one of our pre-production sessions [for this album] we tried it again and … now it is very much our own thing. We made the decision to put it on the album because we just wanted to [record] the best songs we had.”
Pandolfi credits producer Gary Paczosa — who has worked with such acts as the Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek — with ensuring the album best displays the band’s talent.
“We didn’t want a producer that would try to push us in a certain direction,” said Pandolfi. “We wanted a producer to help us more with the sonic elements. … He had a great sort of invisible hand in some of the sonic [elements] helping us push our performances in various directions for the different songs.”
Now that the album is complete, the band has also continued to develop its concerts.
“Our stage show is always changing,” Pandolfi said. “We devote a lot of energy making our stage show as good as it can be,” he said. We approach it the way we tackle music, we don’t want it to be contrived. We want every night to be something unique.”
