Friday, April 11, 2008

A set of classics...

The Infamous Stringdusters just opened the official Meltdown with a ripping set at the Strater Hotel venue. The 'Dusters were scheduled to play 4 sets, 2 each on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday though the band Hurricane Creek fell victim to the rash of canceled American Airlines flights and were forced to bow out of the festival. Enter The Infamous Stringdusters.

The 'Dusters agreed to play an extra set and take the place of Hurricane Creek, their set turned out to be quite a treat. Given that the band was scheduled to play 4 more sets in the next two days they decided that this bonus set would be best utilized as a bluegrass classics set. The band reached way back and played an hour set of almost nothing but bluegrass standards - including fiddle tunes, Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe covers. My personal highlight was their take on the traditional "Dark Hollow" - known to me and my friends via the Grateful Dead's acoustic version. "Dark Hollow" is one of the first Americana/Traditional songs to really pique my interest in the genre, so hearing it is always special. The set was very well received, with quite a few folks standing and cheering throughout the end of the set.

After an hour the 'Dusters bid us adieu for the night but there's still plenty of music for this evening and plenty more 'Dusters this weekend.

I'll try to get some photos and (hopefully) audio clips uploaded soon.

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