Artist:     The Infamous Stringdusters

Album:     Rise Sun

Label:     Tape Time

Release Date:     04.05.2019

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Lithe, stately, and as powerful as can be, the songs that make up The Infamous Stringdusters’ Rise Sun arose from a desire for “More love, more awareness, and more compassion,” says the band’s dobro master, Andy Hall. Shared by his band mates Andy Falco on guitar, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, fiddler Jeremy Garrett, and standup bassist Travis Book, that positive outlook, coupled with their immense talents, offers a rich, riveting musical experience for the listener.

A Best Bluegrass Album Grammy for 2017’s Laws Of Gravity must certainly have boosted the self-assurance on display. Bluegrass of course beats steadily in the hearts of these performances, but like many today, the ’Dusters bend the form to their pleasure (and ours), integrating rock, jazz, country, and soul in wonderfully imaginative ways. Take the metronomic handclapping that begins the searching, soaring “Rise Sun.” An instant, inescapable hook, it bursts open the gates to a stout, country & western-flavored plea. While the words “Can we live together without pain” ring out, one can’t help but gallop along, head bopping. That juxtaposition of seriousness and playfulness is just one more aspect of the album that makes it such a natural joy.

The lushness radiating from “Planets,” with its penetrating singing, and fiddling like a fever intensifying, conveys absolute conviction. But the fade at its conclusion feels like orbs in the rear view of a vessel, the questions left unanswered. For “Long Time Gone,” the band goes to the source, high and lonesome in voice, and low down in the ‘grass, dustin’ them strings across the wood like the dickens. Chris Stapleton would do well in covering that one, as well as the imminently soulful “Somewhere In Between,” which features a pedal steel solo that absolutely abides by the gospel.

All 13 gems were written by The Infamous Stringdusters collectively, with collaborators such as Sarah Siskind and Josh Shilling. Every gorgeous instrumental melody, and every note of harmonious singing, was captured in a crystal-clear, punchy, and ideal setting. Hillbilly-rooted, but more than capable of lighting up a concert hall as if an orchestra, The Infamous Stringdusters have made their most confident, insightful, and definitive album to date. Undoubtedly, they’ll surpass themselves again, as they continue to rise.

—Tom Clarke