ANDY FALCO - His inspirations have truly moved him. brightly.
By Brian Turk
Andy Falco is best known as the Grammy-winning guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of The Infamous Stringdusters. But, when he and fellow Duster Travis Book roll into Denver on Thursday, October 16th, the duo will be playing Jerry Garcia tunes at Ophelia's Electric Soapbox. And Falco has been well trained for the task.
Falco got on the bus early. Which bus? The bus that is commemorated in the Grateful Dead’s song, “The Other One”, when Bob Weir sings: “The bus came by and I got on”. Now, Weir was referring to the vehicle Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters used to transcend and go Further. But, when we Deadheads say, “Get on the bus”, we mean becoming a true fan, or better yet, follower of the Grateful Dead. Not just the music, but also the lifestyle, worldview, and mindset that grew out of the band and changed the trajectory of American consciousness, culture, and music.
“I was probably in 4th or 5th grade when my older brother started turning me on to Grateful Dead bootlegs,” shared Falco. Those gray Maxell II tapes held Falco’s future embedded on their magnetically coated interiors.
There was a specific show that impacted him. 10/12/83 at Madison Square Garden. “It was an audience tape,” says Falco. “And when they broke out ‘St. Stephen’ I remember hearing the audience's reaction. The excitement that was going on drew me in.”
Listening to tapes at home was the first step. The true indoctrination came when Falco was thirteen years old. That’s when Falco’s older brother Tom picked Andy up at school and threw him in the car with his friends - bound for the Hartford Civic Center. That day in 1986 was Falco’s first Grateful Dead show.
“We got into the halls of the Civic Center and heard the audience erupt because the band had taken the stage,” recalls Falco. “But we were still running to get to where we were gonna go — so he just grabbed me and pulled me into the first entrance he could find — and my eyes just lit up. There they were: the Grateful Dead. They opened with ‘Jack Straw.’ That show changed everything for me. I realized there was something really special going on — the band, the music, the scene. I was hooked from then on.”
After that first show, Falco spent most nights listening to the album Reckoning as he fell asleep. The live acoustic masterpiece molded his musical tastes.
“One day I was listening to a college radio station in New York,” shares Falco. “And I heard this old blues guy playing ‘Samson and Delilah.’ I remember thinking how cool it was that an old blues guy was playing a Grateful Dead song. As I was listening, it occurred to me that it was the other way around. That is when I started diving a bit deeper into the covers that the Grateful Dead did. I started going backward and finding where some of that music came from.”
Falco was already playing guitar when he was initially exposed to the music of the Grateful Dead. Again, it was his older brother Tom turning him on. Tom was a guitar player, and the two would jam in their parents’ Long Island home.
“When I was a teenager and playing in garage bands, we would play Grateful Dead tunes,” shares Falco. “And back then it felt like the songs were all about the jams and the culture around the band. But at the end of the day, it’s the songs themselves that have allowed the music of the Grateful Dead to span generations. Great songs stand the test of time.”
When Falco was in college, his brother gave him a copy of the original Pizza Tapes bootleg. That’s when he started finding his way toward bluegrass. Around the same time, a friend introduced him to the music of David Bromberg. “That really led me to more roots and Americana music,” says Falco.
Eventually, Falco found his way to the music of The Band. But before he actually dove into their catalog, he was playing next to Levon Helm, the legendary, charismatic drummer and singer who was the heartbeat of The Band.
Falco trucked up to Applehead Studios in Woodstock, NY, in March of 2002 to play guitar on Jeff Alexander’s album School of Fools, which featured Helm on drums. Years later, he was playing at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock as part of his tour supporting the release of his solo album.
The Grateful Dead set Falco on the road to where he is now. Bromberg and The Band pushed him along his path as well. And Falco has come full circle with all three of those inspirations. He tours with Travis Book playing Jerry Garcia tunes. He played with Levon Helm. And he has a connection to David Bromberg.
“David Bromberg and I met at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival a while back,” says Falco. “And after that, he and I played a couple of duo shows out here on Long Island. As a matter of fact, I am going to see him later tonight.”
The bus came by. Falco got on. He rode it straight through. Now, at almost twenty years with Infamous Stringdusters, Falco is still heavily rooted in his influences. His inspirations have truly moved him. Brightly.
Photos by Gary Jared
Travis Book & Andy Falco Play Garcia
Ophellia’s Electric Soapbox
Thursday, October 16, 2025
