Benevento/Russo Duo

A performance opportunity at New York’s historic Knitting Factory led drummer Joe Russo to recruit his longtime associate, multi-instrumentalist and keyboardist Marco Benevento, thereby launching the Benevento Russo Duo. With no original material prepared for that debut appearance, the pair initially operated as an indie-rock-oriented jam ensemble that sometimes veered into Led Zeppelin-inspired passages. Over time they concentrated on a core drum-and-organ format and issued two self-released albums before aligning with Ropeadope in 2005. Their label debut, Best Reason to Buy the Sun, earned widespread critical praise, prompting extensive touring for the rest of the year that included sets at Bonnaroo and SXSW. Early 2006 took them to Los Angeles to track the follow-up album Play, Pause, Stop. Additional projects surfaced in varied lineups: Weezer’s Drew Direwitz joined Benevento and Russo on occasion for Zeppelin covers presented under the name Bustle in Your Hedgerow, while the Duo collaborated with Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon on a tour billed as GRAB. Those GRAB dates supported Phil Lesh and also featured several headlining concerts.