Chris Pandolfi

Denver serves as home base for banjoist and producer Chris Pandolfi, a founding member of progressive bluegrass outfit the Infamous Stringdusters. Since the ensemble coalesced in the mid-2000s, it has risen among the genre’s foremost string bands, collecting multiple Grammy nominations and securing the Best Bluegrass Album trophy for its 2017 album Laws of Gravity. Pandolfi also maintains a solo career that has yielded three wide-ranging albums, two issued under his more experimental Trad Plus moniker. The 2021 project Trad Plus Presents: Trance Banjo merges original pieces for his signature instrument with an eclectic palette of unconventional samples, synthesizers, and electronic rhythms. In the production chair he has collaborated with groups including the Kitchen Dwellers and Trout Steak Revival, and he launched the podcast Inside the Musician’s Brain.

Briarcliff, New York, is where Pandolfi grew up; he acquired his first banjo in 1997. After completing his studies at Dartmouth, he became Berklee College of Music’s inaugural banjo principal. Relocating to Nashville in 2004, he assembled the Infamous Stringdusters, whose sophisticated approach to contemporary bluegrass and technical prowess quickly drew notice. Their 2007 release Fork in the Road inaugurated a string of widely praised recordings, bringing a series of International Bluegrass Music Awards and extensive touring. In 2009 Pandolfi stepped away from the band long enough to issue his solo debut, Looking Glass; two years later he authored an influential essay tracing bluegrass’s creative development that earned him the keynote slot at the International Bluegrass Music Association Business conference.

The Stringdusters maintained their momentum, issuing forward-thinking material and ultimately claiming their first Grammy Award in 2018. Beyond the group Pandolfi kept pursuing independent projects, producing other artists and initiating a fresh solo outlet designed to expand the sonic possibilities of his instrument. His debut under the Trad Plus name arrived with 2015’s Interference, an atmospheric blend of ambient textures and acoustic playing. He followed with the 2021 Trad Plus album Trance Banjo, further immersing himself in electronically driven production techniques.