Logjam Presents

The Infamous Stringdusters

The Sweet Lillies

The Wilma

Missoula, MT
Add to Calendar 11/20/2021 20:00 11/21/2021 01:00 America/Boise The Infamous Stringdusters

Logjam Presents is pleased to welcome The Infamous Stringdusters for a live in concert performance at The Wilma on Saturday, November 20, 2021. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 20, 2021 at 10:00AM at the Top Hat, online or by phone at 1 (800) 514-3849. All tickets are general admission standing room only. All ages are welcome. Additional… Continue Reading

Logjam Presents - Missoula, Montana false MM/DD/YYYY
7:00PM (door) 8:00PM (show)
$33 (Adv.) + applicable fees
All Ages
Tickets Event Info

Logjam Presents is pleased to welcome The Infamous Stringdusters for a live in concert performance at The Wilma on Saturday, November 20, 2021.

Tickets go on sale Friday, August 20, 2021 at 10:00AM at the Top Hat, online or by phone at 1 (800) 514-3849. All tickets are general admission standing room only. All ages are welcome.

Additional ticketing and venue information can be found here.

*With high ceilings, ample space, and some of the best ventilation systems in the state, the Wilma in Missoula, MT as well as The ELM in Bozeman, MT provide unique opportunities for the Montana community to support the arts in a spacious and more comfortable environment as we move into the colder months.

About The Infamous Stringdusters

The Infamous Stringdusters dig deep into their bluegrass roots for their eleventh full-length record A Tribute to Bill Monroe, made available on Americana Vibes. For this album – which pays homage to the Father of Bluegrass includes songs that shaped them individually, and as a band, and recorded them each remotely from their home studios.

“Bill Monroe was, as far as I can remember, the first bluegrass music I owned,” shared Andy Hall. I asked my uncle for a Bill Monroe CD box set and got it as a birthday present when I turned 18. The sound coming out of my speakers blew my mind, almost like ancient acoustic heavy metal. But then a song like ‘A Voice From On High’ would come on, and even though it was slow, it had this captivating power. The ancient tones.”

The GRAMMY® Award-winning quintet—Andy Falco [guitar], Chris Pandolfi [banjo], Andy Hall [dobro], Jeremy Garrett [fiddle], and Travis Book [double bass]—have musical influences that truly run the gamut, but their common denominator is certainly bluegrass — the sound that has in essence defined the course of their career.

This particular body of work, the first in a series of bluegrass tribute albums, was an obvious choice in that Bill Monroe truly laid the foundation for bluegrass as we know it today.

This particular style of music is still played, and honored, 75 years later and remains a total creative force, something that albeit separated by the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the live music industry, the ‘Dusters (as they’re known to their fans) came together in their truest, most authentic form to create.

The Infamous Stringdusters stand out as the rare group who can team up with contemporary artists on late night television one night and headline the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre or perform alongside The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh the next, and have recently emerged as proprietors behind their newly found independent record label, Americana Vibes.

Manifesting an actual flock of impassioned fandom, much like those who paved the road before them, the band have attracted a faithful international audience that continues to grow. Moreover, their powerful music and performances paved the way for a GRAMMY® Award win in the category of “Best Bluegrass Album” for 2017’s Laws of Gravity, and a number of International Bluegrass Music Awards in a variety of categories.

Sometimes going back to the roots is where we are most likely to find opportunities for growth and evolution, so A Tribute to Bill Monroe was the catalyst for returning home.

“Once we realized that we were going to be grounded for a good while, we found the best way for us to stay connected musically, as a band spread out around the country, would be to record remotely, each guy from his own home studio,” shared Andy Falco. “The silver lining of it was recording albums [such as Dust the Halls: An Acoustic Christmas Holiday and A Tribute to Bill Monroe) like we always talked about but didn’t have the time to actually do because of our busy touring schedule. The most important thing is for the art to continue, and we are very happy to have been able to create despite our different geographical locations.”

Bill Monroe was most widely known for his mandolin playing, however interestingly enough, the mandolin does not appear once in the Dusters’ interpretation. So, while the nature of Bill Monroe’s bluegrass resides within the spirit of innovation, the Dusters took that same leap of faith in excluding Monroe’s instrument in that they “followed their own path to be innovators in the music they create together,” shared Jeremy Garrett, “along with exploiting the musical foundation they all share.”

This album, like both December 2020’s holiday album and their last pre-pandemic effort, Rise Sun, was self-produced offering the band an opportunity to stay connected musically, together/apart, for which they are grateful.

A Tribute to Bill Monroe is the Infamous Stringdusters telling listeners that they are slowly and continually evolving, by honoring the roots of the music that has shaped them as a band and individually. The songs are meaningful, and the musical parts have become more essential.

The Dusters are a brotherhood, but that family extends beyond the band even. And with most of the past year apart (and off), the guys can’t wait to hear what the future has in store for them musically speaking, and the hope is to bring that very musical joy back into people’s lives.

 

The Sweet Lillies

The Sweet Lillies’ music is, first and foremost, heartfelt and collaborative. Those defining traits are given life by the trio of musicians who make up the Lillies, Julie Gussaroff, Becca Bisque, and Dustin Rohleder, who have combined their individual strengths together to deliver powerful narratives of life in song. With their acoustic string-band lineup of guitar, viola, and upright bass given flight by ethereal, vocal harmonies that float like a dream, the Sweet Lillies’ music has an old-time soul with a forward-looking eye. The Sweet Lillies have incorporated all of their cumulative life-experiences into their music, their song-writing, and their artistry, crafting an uncommonly-beautiful style they have christened String-Americana – a nod to the band’s all encompassing musical tastes and willingness to experiment with genres. As Gussaroff explains, “Some musicians learn from teachers, some learn from family members, and some are self taught. Some musicians are classically trained, some come up through folk, some draw from multiple springs, from hip hop through pop to bebop. In the Lillies’ all of these skill sets are valuable, relevant, and appreciated.”

The Sweet Lillies are built upon their collaborative ideals and are always ready to share a stage or develop a project with any musicians who share the same no-holds barred creative approach. This has made each one of their inventive, energetic live-shows a wholly unique event as setlists are changed on the fly, songs are given new life and shape, and guests are always welcome to join in the creative explosion. Those on-stage partnerships create a space for incorporating instruments, arrangements, and styles that aren’t necessarily typical of the genre, but that help create a rich, compelling sound that defies easy categorization. Over the years they have been joined onstage by a number of legendary performers including, Sam Bush, George Porter Jr., Peter Rowan, Sally Van Meter, Andy Hall from the Infamous Stringdusters, Kyle Hollingsworth and Jason Hahn from the String Cheese Incident, Jennifer Hartswick, and Natalie Cressman from the Trey Anastasio Band, among many others. Andy Thorn from Leftover Salmon who has sat in on many of those live adventures says, “It’s always a joy to play with the Sweet Lillies. Over the years, I’ve seen them evolve from a folk-and-bluegrass group into a genre-bending powerhouse. Today, at a Lillies show, you’ll hear everything from their beautiful, soulful originals, to creative reinventions of your favorite 90s hip-hop tracks. They’re always ready to have fun – on stage and off – without losing an ounce of their professionalism.”

The Sweet Lillies were born from Gussaroff’s desire to form a band in which each member would be an equal participant in terms of songwriting, singing, and creative input. After years of accompanying other artists, serving as a side player, and writing songs for others, multi-instrumentalist and classical trained vocalist Gussaroff wanted to establish a true musical-collective that would highlight the best qualities of all involved. In 2014 Gussaroff met Bisque, who was a classically trained violist. The two found an immediate and deep musical connection and the Sweet Lillies were born. In 2017 at a campground jam at the Hangtown Ball they heard guitarist Rohleder. That night the three played for what they remembered as, “Ten magical hours.” The following year in 2018, Rohleder joined the Sweet Lillies full-time completing Gussaroff’s vision.

Since forming in 2013 the Sweet Lillies have released two albums, 2016’s self-titled release, and 2018’s A Lighter Hue produced by Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman. The band just released their new album, Common Ground, produced by Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, on June 4 of this year.

Common Ground stays true to the beliefs that Gussaroff and the Sweet Lillies adhere to. She explains, “String band music is compelling. What makes it so universally appealing is the way it lends itself to effective fusion of diverse styles, skill-sets and conceptions.” On Common Ground the Sweet Lillies take that notion to heart and do just that with an album that exemplifies their collective spirit and pulls from all the varied arrows in the band’s quiver. On Common Ground the Sweet Lilles stay true to the string-band soul that is at the heart of their music, but prove they are also unafraid to explore all corners of their distinct musical experiences. The album moves seamlessly from the horn-driven title-track “Common Ground,” to the gentle “Breath to the Birds,” to the hard-driving “Brother’s Hill,” to the band’s own unique, rootsy take on rap “In Love With the World,” (with a beat made by Jeff Franca from Thievery Corporation). Common Ground masterfully incorporates those diverse genres and voices into their own universe, creating an aural-soundscape that is at the same time both new and familiar. Producer Carbone sums it up best, “The world needs a band like The Sweet Lillies, whose music is positive without denying the darkness in the world. Their songs are uplifting but they also invite the listener to be introspective and draw their own conclusions. Like all great music it does so while taking you on a journey of joy. I live to make records like this with dedicated, focused artists and I can’t wait for the world to hear it.”