The Infamous Strindgusters | Infamous Weekend 2024
Photo by Jerry Friend

FESTIVAL RECAP: The Infamous Weekend 
September 19-21, 2024
Pop’s Farm | Martinsville, Virginia 
by Jason Jones

September 25, 2024

The Infamous Weekend left this veteran festival-goer in a delightful daze, riding high on three days of soaring music, joyous camaraderie, and spirited rejuvenation, all enjoyed from the lap of serene beauty on Pop’s Farm in Martinsville, Virginia. With a mindfully sourced lineup of old pros, rising stars, and upstarts, everyone who graced the stage was a standard bearer of righteous music. The dual Lawn Stage - Pine Grove Stage setup allowed for interlocking sets that kept the tunes flowing, while not forcing attendees to pick between competing set times—a winning combination in my estimation. 

Fans were treated to an evening with The Infamous Stringdusters to open the festival, as the band set the bar on high Thursday night, scorching through a wide set of traditional bluegrass, with covers of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and Jimmy Martin. The finesse with which the band handled these masterpieces was a thing to behold, a sterling example of timeless art presented by present day masters. Thursday evening laid the foundation for a weekend of soul soothing music, pleasant weather, and smiling crowds moving in unison. While the Dusters moved over to the more spacious Lawn Stage on later nights, it was a treat for fans to get dusted in the grove. 

The Pine Grove Stage at Pop’s Farm has taken hold as one of my personal favorites on the scene. It’s a shady grove blanketed in pine needles and sewn with tall trees, featuring a wooden modest stage where legends are made. I put it in league with the Mushroom Stage at Spirit of Suwannee in Live Oak, Florida. Falco & Book Play Garcia also opened the festivities Friday afternoon on the Pine Stage, running through a set of Jerry Garcia classics, including hot takes on “Cold Rain & Snow,” “Brown Eyed Women,” and “Stella Blue.” Falco & Book was one of two Stringduster offshoots to play, as Andy & Jeremy also did a VIP Campfire set to close out Friday night. 

Not only did the Infamous Stringusters play five sets of music for all ticket holders, plus a special VIP set, they also did a VIP meet and greet, an autograph session, and Chris Pandolfi and Andy Hall sat down with The City Salt for an interview on Saturday. Look for a cover story featuring The Infamous Stringdusters in the future.

Friday also featured the first of two sets on the weekend by Wilson Springs Hotel and Florencia & The Feeling, plus a raucous, well-attended show by The Lil’ Smokies. The largest part of the night saw two alternating sets from Isaac Hadden and The Infamous Stringdusters, with many fans shuffling between stages to take in the curiously on cue pairing of one of the scene’s youngest players with one of its most established acts as headliners of the evening’s schedule. The Stringdusters delivered a rare set to end the evening, playing their 2017 Grammy Winning album Laws of Gravity in full from start to finish, highlighting classic numbers such as “A Hard Life Makes a Good Song,” “This Ol’ Building,” and “Back Home.” 

Much like Billy Strings, Daniel Donato, and Kanika Moore, many fans will look back at Pop’s Farm as the place they first saw Isaac Hadden on the way to high regard and popular demand. The band that he brought with him to Pop’s Farm was a new one to my ears, featuring Jeff Sipe on drums, Taylor Lee on bass, and saxophonist Steve Alford. They steamed through two sets of electrifying funky jams, pushing the boundaries of genre, expectation, and beauty with their deftly dramatic improvisational abilities and artistic vision. 

Saturday offered no break in the action, with the second sets of the weekend from Florencia & The Feeling and Wilson Springs Hotel, plus sets from new-to-me groups, The Fly Birds and The Last Revel. The Fly Birds are a trio of string picking sirens with vocal chops that bring people running. I was learning their original music on the spot, but was captured by a cover of Richard Thompson’s “Vincent Black Lightning 1952.” The Last Revel, a four-piece string band out of Minneapolis, Minnesota brought the afternoon heat as well, playing a number of tunes off of their latest release, 2023’s Dovetail, an album celebrating dovetail furniture making as a metaphor for a thing well made. 

Not only did I enjoy some new music on Saturday, I had the great fortune of catching sets by a triumvirate of longtime favorites for the first time in a good long while, Dangermuffin, The Jon Stickley Trio, and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country. Dangermuffin, out of South Carolina, has been playing our neck of the woods for many years, but it was a delight to see them again and to hear some familiar songs along with some new ones, as they recently released their first album in a decade back in August. The Jon Stickley Trio hails from Asheville, North Carolina, stopping in for two sets at the Pine Grove Stage. It’s always a treat to see the trio’s interplanetary journey through sound, but Jon Stickley kept busy while he was on the farm. Not only did he take the time for an interview with The City Salt that will appear later, he stuck around for a late night sit-in with The Infamous Stringdusters. Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country was introduced by Rooster Walk chief Johnny Buck, who spearheaded another brilliantly produced festival, with one of the highlights being Donato’s set filling the forest with dancing souls. The Cosmic Country experience leaned toward the cosmic side Saturday night, featuring a slew of extended space explorations—but it wasn’t without its country flare, as the band laid into a choice cover of Willie Nelson’s “Devil in a Sleepin’ Bag.” Like Stickley, Daniel Donato stuck around the farm after his set for a sit-in with the Dusters, along with Kyser George, on ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man.” 

After the final set guest appearances, and with the golden trifecta of “County Fool,” a cover of Phish’s “2001,” and “Truth and Love,” The Infamous Stringdusters brought the show to a harmonious close on the Lawn Stage before a swaying field of adoring fans. The Infamous Stringdusters curated a profound lineup of artists that each highlight the best of what music can become. As for the band, The Infamous Stringdusters exhibit that eternal hum, that universal sigh, that everlasting feeling with every note, lick, and lyric they play; they’re a quintet that’s aged like heady wine, who multiplies depth of skill by depth of emotion, and leaves every listener with a soothing touch.

Catch Falco & Book Play Garcia at 5 Points Music Sanctuary in Roanoke, Virginia on November 6, 2024 and The Infamous Stringdusters at The National in Richmond, Virginia for a two-night New Year’s Eve run on December 30 & 31, 2024. <>

Covering Virginia’s Great Valleys and between, including Roanoke, Blacksburg, Floyd, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, and the surrounding areas.

In his first interview since leaving Goose, Ben Atkind sits down with Jason Jones, managing editor of The City Salt. Recorded by Jessica Hall. Photos by Cloud Bobby. Produced by Jason Jones.