His
Roland SPD-S sampler is often used for electronic drum samples, which play an important role in many of The Duo's compositions, such as "Welcome Red", "Becky", and "My Pet Goat". Two songs appearing on
Play Pause Stop, "Memphis" and "Powder", were written by Russo and feature his guitar playing. Russo has twice won the New Groove award at the
Jammys, in 2000 and 2005. In mid 2006 he was the drummer in a collaboration with
Trey Anastasio,
Mike Gordon, and
Marco Benevento (sometimes referred to as GRAB or Mike & the Italians). During late 2008, Russo traveled to London to record an album with the band
Younger Brother. In December 2008, Russo joined
Ween front man
Gene Ween and fellow
Bustle In Your Hedgerow band mates
Scott Metzger and
Dave Dreiwitz for a short east coast tour with an outfit called the
Gene Ween Band. On this tour, Russo played his "house kit," which included a rare 30-inch bass drum purchased off of eBay. In late 2009, Russo joined
Bob Weir,
Phil Lesh,
Jay Lane,
Jeff Chimenti and
John Kadlecik (from
Dark Star Orchestra) to form the band
Furthur. Jay Lane left Furthur in March 2010 to rejoin
Primus, and Russo continued to tour with the band as their sole drummer until they disbanded in November 2014. In 2013, Joe Russo formed a band called
Joe Russo's Almost Dead with Ween bassist
Dave Dreiwitz,
Marco Benevento on keyboards and
Scott Metzger and
Tom Hamilton on vocals and guitars. Joe Russo's Almost Dead interpret the music of the Grateful Dead. The project was originally conceived for the Freaks Ball, an annual party hosted by the NYC-Freaks music community. Russo has recorded multiple albums with Craig Finn of
the Hold Steady. In 2021 Russo formed a trio with keyboard player
John Medeski and
Dave Harrington, and in 2023 formed a trio with Medeski and guitarist
Marc Ribot. ==Discography==