The Dust Busters with John Cohen in Washington Square Park

Here's us at the 2009 Washington Square Reunion.  This annual event brings together all the people that have played folk music in Washington Square Park over the years, going back all the way to the 1940's.  This year we had the good fortune to sit in the grass and play music with John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers.  We were rehearsing for our appearance later that week on WNYC radio.

Notes on Our Album

Below is the list of tracks on our new CD followed by the artists whose old recordings influenced our own versions:

Some Quotes About the Band:

 
(photo by O. Mullick)

“The Dust Busters bring back the true spirit of Old Time Music, where every singer invented his own performance. Besides being excellent musicians on fiddle, banjo and guitar, pump organ, harmonica, etc., they sing with the high voices that echo the sounds of young artists heard on the old 78s, evoking the spirit of the “Golden Era” of recording, and the mystery of their own identity.

They have built their repertoire from some of the best music of the past and they keep it alive and lively. They have found resonance with the intensity of rural music, while delighting in the nuances that preserve the individual uniqueness of the genre. This is music that will keep your mind dancing.

The Dust Busters are reaching for new musical highs, and they play the kind of music I want to hear.”

- John Cohen, New Lost City Ramblers.

“A really excellent stringband! They make this old music alive and present.”

- Bob Fass, WBAI 99.5fm New York.

“Here’s three of my favorite people to play and sing with ever, kicking musical ass all over the landscape. If you like your trad/roots benter and hotter than normal, you’ll love this!”

- Peter Stampfel, Holy Modal Rounders and Fugs.

"The Dust Busters have clearly been hanging out with some of my favorite dead guys. And this is the thing: you either fall in love with the dead guys or you don't -- but you can't fake that sort of communion. The Dust Busters are there -- you can hear it in their repertoire, and in the heart with which they play. It's a rare gift, and I'm so glad they're sharing it!"
- Rayna Gellert, Uncle Earl. 

About The Dust Busters

The Dust Busters are an old-time string band based out of Brooklyn, New York. They met while playing in a larger band with folk music legends John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers and Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders.  The Dust Busters integrate a wide range of old-time songs, ballads, fiddle tunes and jug band blues into every performance.  They are influenced and inspired by the direct fusion of Scots-Irish and African music that took place in Appalachia, the Western states and the Deep South from the earliest colonial times through the Second World War.  The Dust Busters' music is infused with the old-time feeling and freewheelin’ high energy present in the true diversity of American Folk Music. By carrying this music forward with authenticity and creativity The Dust Busters make it thoroughly contemporary, meaningful and fun!

The Dust Busters have appeared at venues including The Old Town School of Folk Music, Club Passim and the Jalopy Theater. They have played at festivals such as Pickathon, The Brooklyn Folk Festival, the The Dock Boggs Festival, The Woodstock Film Festival and the Borgas International Folk Festival and appeared on TV shows such as Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour, and radio such as Sound Check with John Schaefer, WNYC 93.9fm.  For a list of more appearances, see below.

The Dust Busters are:
Walker Shepard (Banjo, Guitar, Guit-Jo, Fiddle)
Craig Judelman (Fiddle, Pump Organ)
Eli Smith (Guitar, Banjo, Banjo-Mandolin, Harmonica, Autoharp, Jug, Spoons)

For tour schedule and samples from
The Dust Busters’ new album, see:
http://www.myspace.com/dustbustersmusic

Contact Info: DustBustersMusic@Gmail.com

(photo O. Mullick)

A list of selected appearances by The Dust Busters:
The Brooklyn Folk Festival (Brooklyn, New York)
Pickathon (Portland, OR)
The Dock Boggs Festival (Norton, VA)
The Black Banjo Gathering (Boone, NC)
The Jalopy Theater
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA)
The Green Lantern (Lexington, KY)
Woodsongs Oldtime Radio Hour (Lexington, KY)
The Woodstock Film Festival (Woodstock, NY)
The Margarette Meade Film Festival (New York, NY)
Mississippi Pizza (Portland, OR)
The Old Time School of Folk Music (Chicago, IL)
Borgas International Folk Festival (Bulgaria)
The Crane (Galway, Ireland)