CHRIS PANDOLFI
ARTIST Biography
Chris Pandolfi is a full time musician, Grammy winner, producer, writer and all-around creative based in Denver, Colorado.
Music was all around him growing up. His grandparents, Frank and Carmela Pandolfi, started the Connecticut Opera Association in 1942. Chris never met his grandfather, but his grandmother got him playing piano at a really young age. Ultimately inspired by his older brother Jono’s musical tastes and exploits, Chris got his first banjo in the summer of 1997. The next ten or so years flew by. During that time he got his undergrad degree at Dartmouth College and then went on to be the first ever banjo principal at the Berklee College of Music before moving to Nashville, TN in 2004. Along the way he was lucky to work with many amazing people, but ultimately Chris started a band with great musicians who are also his great friends–The Infamous Stringdusters. They have been touring for about 11 years, have a bunch of albums and an amazing community of fans. The Dusters have 2 Grammy nominations and a Grammy win for ‘Bluegrass Album of the Year’ in 2018. They strive to make good original music, explore the world and enjoy life.
Aside from the Dusters Chris has a few solo endeavors that keep him busy. TRAD+ is a banjo-centric exploration of a different sonic world, combining vinyl samples, drums, synths, strings, beats and much more. He released his first album, Interference, in the fall of 2015, and it’s been downloaded over 600,000 times internationally. TRAD+ continues to evolve and more new music is on the way. Before these experiments started, Chris wrote and produced two banjo-centric solo albums (Looking Glass and The Handoff), that feature a lot of original music and some of his favorite acoustic players. He’s also produced records for Trout Steak Revival (Brighter Every Day, and Spirit to the Sea) and Meadow Mountain, both great up and coming string bands. In addition to producing, session work and solo endeavors, Andy Hall and Chris front the Bluegrass Generals–a rotating cast of killer bluegrass pickers that come together for a weekend of music a few times a year. Past Generals include Sam Bush, Larry Keel, Sam Grisman, Billy Nershi, Billy Strings and more.
While music has always been Chris’ passion, he also loves to write and create short motion pictures. “I started working on video around 2007, filming the ‘Dusters hijinks, documentary style. Since then I have enjoyed finding more and more creative ways to use the camera/editing software, from stop-motion to performance to ski vids.” His writing focuses mostly on their adventures and musical scene, a subject that’s always interested him along his journey from the Northeast to Nashville, Virginia and now Colorado. “Bluegrass is its own world, filled with incredible musicianship and a short but vibrant history of crazy characters, trends and changes.” A few of his pieces about the current state of the bluegrass world reached a big audience. In the wake of that attention the International Bluegrass Music Association asked him to deliver a keynote address at the 2011 World of Bluegrass in Nashville, TN (their annual business conference), giving some real recognition to a new vision of a bigger, more connected acoustic world. Chris also explored many of these topics in a recent piece for No Depression’s ‘Bluegrass Beyond’ issue. “It’s an exciting time for bluegrass, and we look forward to being a part of whatever is next.”
Chris moved to Denver, CO in 2013, a place that he says has always embraced the Stringdusters. “I’m excited to call it home.”
Bio source: “Chris Pandolfi.” chrispandolfi.com, accessed June 21, 2019.
Chris is a professional musician, singer, songwriter, and banjo player for The Infamous Stringdusters and TRAD+.