Susto Stringband

Justin Osborne has performed as Susto since 2013, emerging from Charleston, SC with a shape-shifting alt-rock vision rooted in gospel, bluegrass, and folk. A chance open-mic encounter in Asheville with vocalist Clint Roberts, clawhammer banjoist Helena Rose, and upright bassist Joey Brown (now known as Holler Choir) sparked the formation of Susto Stringband. The project reimagines a number of Osborne’s introspective catalog (including Susto favorites like “Hard Drugs” and “Diamond’s Icaro”) through a richly textured, traditional string band lens, blending pastoral harmonies with lyrics that wrestle with love, loss, mortality, and transcendence. True to the meaning of “susto,” which roughly translate from Spanish as an intense, soul-deep fear, the music balances Arcadian beauty with emotional reckoning, bringing Osborne’s rural South Carolina roots full circle.