Andy Hall and Billy Strings Get Animated For 'Muscle Car' Video

05-24-2023

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(Americana Vibes) Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters has collaborated with GRAMMY-award-winning guitarist Billy Strings in his newest single "Muscle Car," off of his forthcoming album Squareneck Soul out via Americana Vibes on June 23rd.

With an uptempo, high-powered display of Hall's virtuosity on dobro and Strings' electrifying picking guitar performance, the new single is accompanied by an animated, video game-themed music video depicting a pixelated Hall in a red Ford Mustang that is powered by a magic dobro.

On a quest to make it to a performance, the journey takes him through the mountains of Colorado, the Grand Canyon, and outer space before the apex of the chase finds him soaring above the California Aqueduct in Ventura County successfully completing the expedition to the show.

Joined by fellow Infamous Stringduster Travis Book on bass, rising bluegrass star Sierra Hull on mandolin, and prodigious banjoist Wes Corbett of Sam Bush Band, Hall presents 10 new compositions in Squareneck Soul that are meant to serve as templates for improvisation and pickin'. He aims to showcase the evolution and awareness of the dobro as the title alludes to a squareneck dobro/resonator guitar which is set up with a high nut to be played with a bar or a slide, only in lap style, making the instrument both audibly and visually memorable.

"I love being an ambassador for this weird, strange instrument," says Hall, "When people hear the sound of the instrument and see it, they light up. I don't think people are exposed to it much and I just love seeing reactions to it."

The release of Squareneck Soul comes after a 2020 solo album 12 Bluegrass Classics for Resophonic Guitar, a collection of classic bluegrass songs and influences that inspired his musical journey and his 2021 ambient album A Universe Within created out of curiosity and catharsis during the pandemic. However, this is his first full band release under his own name since his 2008 release The Sound of Slide Guitar which won Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards.

Hall will be on the road with The Infamous Stringdusters for the duration of the summer with a slew of club shows and festival dates that include appearances at Suwannee Spring Reunion, Charm City Bluegrass Festival, DelFest, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and more.

A full list of dates can be found here:

5/6 - Baltimore, MD - Charm City Bluegrass Festival
5/20 - Clive, IA - Greenbelt Music Festival
5/26 + 27 - Cumberland, MD - DelFest
5/28 - Greenfield, MA - Strange Creek Campout
6/1-3 - Oak Hill, WV - Mountain Music Festival
6/17-18 - Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival
6/22 - Eau Claire, WI - Blue Ox Festival
6/23 - Owensboro, KY - ROMP Fest
6/24 - Caneadea, NY - Estival Festival
6/29-7/2 - Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival
7/14 - Durham, NY - Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
7/15 - Charleston, SC - The Refinery
7/21-23 - Redmond, OR - Fairwell Festival
8/4 - Bellvue, CO - The Mishawaka
8/5 - Dillon, CO - Dillon Amphitheater
8/6 - South Fork, CO - Rhythms on the Rio
8/10 - Ketchum, ID - River Run Lodge
8/11 - Alta, WY - Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival
8/12-13 - Livingston, MT - Pine Creek Lodge
9/1 - Mill Springs, NC - Earl Scruggs Music Festival
9/2 - Brunswick, ME - Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival
9/15-16 - Martinsville, VA - The "Infamous" Weekend
9/17 - East Aurora, NY - Borderland Music Festival
10/6 - Pelham, TN - Cave Fest
10/8 - Monterey, CA - Rebels & Renegades Music Festival
12/6-10 - Puerto Morelos, Q.R. - Strings & Sol