Andy Falco – An Xperience Interview – by Niki Kaos.

The Infamous Stringdusters perform jaw-dropping, innovative musical arrangements with agility and dynamics that seem otherworldly when witnessed live. Melding bluegrass and Americana styles with unconventional genre-bending flair, each concert is a unique experience, bringing a palpable energy and danceable groove.

The Stringdusters are bringing their magic to Universal Preservation Hall on Thursday, March 13. I caught up with Andy Falco, who plays guitar in the band, on what is in store for the show, and a unique music teaching project coming up.

RRX: I’m excited for the UPH show

AF: Yeah! Saratoga Springs. Love it!

RRX: There’s a lotta fans up here for you. Can you tease any of the setlist vibes? What are you going to bring this time?

AF: We do a different show every single night, so there’s no way to know what the setlist will bring. We always bring a lot of bluegrass and a lot of our own songs, high-energy party time. People should bring their dancing shoes for sure.

RRX: I love that. I love to dance! I’m curious what that process is like when you have to come up with a different setlist for each show?

AF: The way it works is Chris Pandolfi, our banjo player, will write the setlist at some point during the day. He keeps good track of what we’ve been playing. What we played last time we were in that city. And then we all go over it and make changes if we want to. We discuss it, and then we play the show.

RRX: That keeps it fresh, when you’re not repeating the same setlist over and over. I mean, it has its place, I don’t knock it. But it’s exciting not to know what you’re going to get.

AF: It’s the way we like to approach it. It keeps it fresh for the band, keeps it fresh for the audience. If people are doing multiple shows on a tour, they know that each show will be its own unique experience. In our sort of corner of bluegrass or jam world, it comes from that.

It sort of comes from the Grateful Dead approach. Our shows are loosely structured in similar ways to a Grateful Dead show. Two sets usually, and different shows every night.

RRX: That makes sense because you’ve taken bluegrass and Americana to the jam space and honored that tradition of getting people in a room, and dancing and getting down. You’ve been doing this for almost 20 years. What is it like to have such a long-standing collaboration with your group?

AF: We’ve been together a long time because we are very good friends. We love making music together. We love hanging together. There’s really no egos or anything like that. I think bands end up having issues with that kind of thing. We’re very lucky that we just enjoy being out on the road and making music together. A trip with your buddies where you get to make music along the way.

There’s a lot of mutual respect within our band. Oftentimes, when people work with us, like producers or engineers, they’re often surprised because we’ll tell them that our band operates as a full democracy. There’s no leader in our band. They’ll be like … yeah, right. But, they’re surprised when they hit the studio with us that it truly is a collaborative effort.

Everyone has so much respect for each other in our band. If you propose an idea, and there’s another idea from the band – you don’t get your feelings hurt. You trust your bandmates. We all trust each other. And I think that’s the secret to the longevity of our band, and we have no intention of stopping anytime soon. We just love it so much.

RRX: That’s very good news. You’re bringing that energy to help support other musicians. I’ve been reading that you’ve been doing some producing.

AF: For me, producing is something I do occasionally because it’s really fun to make records with other bands. With other people’s vision in mind, as a producer, your job is not to make it like your vision. Your job is to help them realize their vision and be on the outside and guide them through finding what their vision is, bringing some ideas that might help them.

I produce occasionally. Actually, Chris Pandolfi does a lot of producing in Denver. I think we all dabble a little bit in some kind of production stuff. In our band, we all have a lot of experience making records of our own. Also, in Nashville especially, a lot of sessions for other people, being in the studio with great producers and great musicians. And with some heroes. So, if I can bring that experience …

With my own production, usually I’m working with bands who are more starting out in the New York area, and I like to bring that experience. The studio flow and ideas to help people realize their vision for their music. It’s a really rewarding thing to do.

RRX: Just being around other musicians helps me level up. I’ve heard being around players better than you will motivate you to step up your game. But then also, you can learn from anyone at any skill level.

AF: You’re right. Honestly, as somebody who has taught at a lot of workshops and camps, I love doing it. And I do Zoom lessons sometimes when I have time to do that. The main reason I love doing that is because it is fun, and I get to talk about the music I love.

But also, it makes me evaluate my playing and what I’m doing. Because when you start to evaluate things, you might be talking about something or someone is asking you about a specific thing, and you’re explaining it, and I’m thinking to myself … oh yeah. I gotta remember to do that too! (laughs)

RRX: Exactly!

AF: It helps me analyze my own playing and reminds me of a lot of things that I need to keep up with.

I’m going to be doing an online teaching program that I’m signed up to do. The idea of it is that there will be a whole series of videos that I will record so people can access them. Whenever they want, they can make a video of themselves playing and ask any questions. Then I receive those videos, and I make a personalized video response for them. Where I can comment on what they’re doing.

It’s kind of a cool way to teach because it’s something you can do on your own time. You can browse through different topics. If you have a question about something, you send in your video, and then you get a video response back from the instructor. Showing you what you did right. What you need to work on. It’s an innovative way to learn. And they have a vast roster of instructors. artistworks.com. Mine will probably launch later this year.

RRX: I love that! I love the way you described the format. Because some people are pressed, scheduling things for a certain time, and snafus happen. But when you give that space for someone to do it on their own time, that is a very logical use of technology.

AF: I’ve found that sometimes when I do a real-time one-on-one Zoom with somebody, those are great. I love doing those. I love getting to chat with people in real time. We can address a lot of things in real time, and that’s a great way to do it, too. But one of the advantages to the Artistworks.com format is that I think sometimes people get a little bit nervous when I’m doing a lesson with them.

RRX: That’s because you’re “Infamous!” (laughs)

AF: Ah … there you go. That might be.

And for some people, if that’s the case, they might feel more comfortable with the video they’re working with.

Usually, the way these video breakdowns work is there’ll be hundreds of short videos on each topic. You can really dive into the details on something. And you can do it on your own time without feeling like somebody’s watching you. When you do run into a question, you can send your video in and get the feedback. So, for some people, I think that works really well. I look forward to making those videos and putting that out there this year.

Andy Hall, our dobro player, has been involved with this for a long time. It’s artistworks.com. And they have all kinds of music too. Rock musicians, bluegrass musicians, you name it. They have a style of music and musicians that you would probably know and want to learn something from.

RRX: Well, that is really cool! I think people learn in all different ways, so having different formats to share information is amazing. Is there anything you want to say before we wrap up?

AF: See you in Saratoga! Bring your dancing shoes!

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