While The Infamous Stringdusters are no strangers to our fair Port City, it is their deep connection with Colorado that has them coming back to us this Saturday. Since releasing their new EP in November, “Road To Boulder,” featuring Bruce Hornsby on the accordion, the ‘Dusters have taken to the road with Colorado band Paper Bird, for their Road To Boulder tour.

“Road To Boulder” is their first new single in a couple of years, written by band member Andy Hall while he was deciding whether or not to move to the Rocky Mountains. He settled in Lyons, Colorado, well before the September floods earlier this year. The band figured there was no better time to release the EP, with sales going toward flood relief via the Oskar Blues CAN’d Aid Foundation Colorado Flood Relief Fund.

In addition, $1 from every ticket sold throughout the tour, including the stop in Wilmington, will benefit the fund. Guitarist Andy Falco took the time to chat with encore about “Road To Boulder,” as well as his love for family and vinyl records.

encore (e): How was your Thanksgiving?
Andy Falco (AF): It was fantastic; I got a week off and just hung out with family and did the traditional Italian Thanksgiving, which is just that I over-ate all day.

e: Does the family always want you to play for them when you come to town?
AF: You know, my brothers both play, and now my little nephew is 7-years-old and plays drums. So, we jam. He brings his little drum kit … and he loves The Beatles and just wants to play Beatles’ jams.

e: So you have another band to go to if need be one day?
AF: [laughs] Yeah and I told [my nephew] that we had to name the band, so he calls it Brown Bear. He’s like, “Are we going to do Brown Bear for Thanksgiving?” I’ll bring the gear and we jam. It’s so much fun.

e: Is it bittersweet to get back on the road around the holidays?
AF: It’s always nice to be home with the family, but it’s also nice to get out and spend time with the “jamily.” We love getting out on the road and playing shows, and even though it is tough to leave the homestead, it’s always for good stuff. We love it.

e: Paper Bird, more Indie folk and even a little pop, are opening for the ‘Dusters throughout the tour. They’re from Colorado, but what about their sound got them on the bill with you guys?
AF: I think they’re awesome. We think it’s more enjoyable to have other kinds of music and bands that are different from what we’re doing; it just makes for better listening. You don’t want to have too similar of sounds and it’s nice to have other things going on.

When we have opening bands, we’re not thinking about the numbers that they draw or anything like that; it’s more about what’s going to be the best musical experience for the audience. That’s more valuable and more important to us for the night as a whole.

It’s like a festival, you may or may not have heard of all the bands on the bill, but we feel that the audience is just going to love it. It’s really about the music … to make a good listening experience.

e: So who are some other bands you’re listening to these days?
AF: These days I’ve got my vinyls set up at home and I’ve been listening to just a ton of awesome old records. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Band, Zeppelin, Mike Broomfield, and Steely Dan’s “Aja,” that kind of stuff. Just great records and timeless records, and of course there’s always a lot of Beatles. I’ve just really been into the old sounds and listening to that kind of music the way it was meant to be listened to, with a tuned amplifier and vinyl.

I know digital listening is more convenient, with Spotify, Pandora or whatever your service of choice is, and it’s great to have access to so much music easily, but when I get home and I put on a record, I realize I’m so much more present in the album. I’m so much more involved and invested in the album when I put on a record. For me, I’ve rediscovered the joy of listening to an album and taking it in and I think that can get a little lost in the digital world.

e: Tell me a little more about “Road To Boulder.”
AF: We thought it’d be cool to have an accordion on it and we brought up Bruce Hornsby because he’s the man. We were fortunate enough that when he heard the song, he agreed to do it; we were totally psyched. Then the floods happened.

Coincidently, we had this song that was just about [Andy’s] move from Nashville to Colorado, and all of the sudden it just meant a whole lot more. It was an opportunity to be able to put that out and raise some money to help people in need. For us, it’s very close to home and we have a lot of friends there, a lot of fans [in Colorado], and [we] realized it was an opportunity to help out.

DETAILS:
The Infamous Stringdusters
w/ Paper Bird
Saturday, December 14th
Doors: 8 p.m., show: 9 p.m.
Ziggy’s By The Sea • 208 Market St
Tickets: $15 adv / $20 day of show
ziggysbythesea.com