In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, The Infamous Stringdusters‘ fiddler Jeremy Garrett discussed his latest solo record, Circles, as well as his attempts to elevate the fiddle to the same level of grandeur as other instruments.
On January 31st, just as the Stringdusters wrapped up their most recent tour, Garrett released his fifth studio album in 15 years. The album marks another musical evolution for Garrett, as his previous two albums were recorded inside of an RV, whereas this one was made in a full-fledged studio. Circles also shows that Garrett has found his groove, whereas his first two albums showed an artist still looking for his definitive voice. This was best exemplified by the much different style of his debut album, 2005’s Garrett Grass Gospel. The new record offers a crisp, focused mission of what Garrett calls “fiddle science.”
Fiddle science is all about experimentation. I have sounds that I try to create for myself and my solo thing, especially because I’m playing all the instruments — fiddle, guitar, mandolin, singing, and then using the looping machine. So just the whole vibe is already kind of different [from the Stringdusters]. For me it’s a little thicker as far as the sounds that I’m going for — it’s a mad scientist laboratory.
This “fiddle science” concept also flows into another goal of Garrett’s, which is to elevate the fiddle, and some of the other overlooked instruments in bluegrass, to the level of sexiness maintained by the guitar. Luckily, he admits that the technology is finally starting to give the rest of the instruments a fighting chance.
You have all these great guitar gods, all these [guitar] pedals and extravagance. The pedals are all geared towards guitar, but never for a fiddler. Why not? I feel like now is this new frontier where the pedals are better and the technology is better than it’s ever been. Now is the time to really dive deep. And so fiddle science is a project all about really searching inward and going as far as I can go like a lot of guitar players have done in the past. In my opinion, fiddle or dobro or banjo deserve every bit as much focus as electric guitars have gotten, but they’ve not gotten the same level of [attention] — let’s bring these guitar pedals into our world and see if they work.
The Infamous Stringdusters are off the road until March 5th, when they play at Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, CA. For tickets and a full list of tour dates, head to the band’s website. Check out the full Rolling Stone interview here.
[H/T Rolling Stone]