It’s worth remembering that the Americana-folk-rock band Susto took their name from a medical syndrome that’s specific to Latin America and translates as “panic attack.” The band has been around — writing for the Scene, I noted what I heard as a “spooked, sneaky” vibe on their 2014 debut, and I detected hints of Jesus rock, yacht rock and novelty rock on 2017’s & I’m Fine Today.
Susto leader Justin Osborne moved to Asheville, N.C., in 2021 and started playing with the city’s Holler Choir, which led him toward a traditional, string-band style on Susto Stringband’s 2025 Susto Stringband (Volume One) and their new Susto Stringband (Volume Two). Osborne, who now lives in Austin, Texas, definitely has a way with titles, and Volume Two sports a cover of the & I’m Fine Today track “Diamond’s Icaro.” The string-band overlay works — if Susto has a bent and pop-adjacent approach to old-time music, Osborne’s collaboration with Holler Choir brings out the pathos in his songs. Volume Two peaks with “Last Chance Linda,” about an older woman who sits in on fiddle one last time with a band that’s passing through, and is amazed people still play the music the way it used to be. Nashville’s Joshua Hedley adds fiddle to the album’s “E-350,” about loving your van.
8 p.m. at Skinny Dennis
2635 Gallatin Pike
