The Infamous Stringdusters Are Back With Another Tribute To Bluegrass Greats; This Time It’s Lester Flatt And Earl Scruggs

contributed by IVPR / Maria Ivey

A Tribute To Flatt & Scruggs is due out April 21st; Hear “I’d Rather Be Alone” today

February 8, 2023 – Denver, CO – When it came time for the Infamous Stringdusters to record their new album, A Tribute to Flatt & Scruggs, the band gathered in the studio and pressed record; all at once, all together, just like the bluegrass pioneers whose music they were picking.

Hot on the heels of yet another GRAMMY nomination—this time for their latest LP, Toward The Fray—the Stringdusters are revisiting the forefathers of the genre in a way not too distant from their GRAMMY-nominated A Tribute to Bill Monroe. 

“The concept of paying tribute to the Grandfathers or originators of Bluegrass is one we bounced around for awhile and after Bill Monroe, the most logical, I think any bluegrass musician would agree, is Flatt & Scruggs,” says Stringdusters bassist Travis Book. “They’re legendary and without Earl’s banjo, bluegrass just doesn’t exist the way we know it today.” 

A Tribute to Flatt & Scruggs—the band’s 13th full-length album—will be released on April 21st via their Americana Vibes label. 

Today, the band shared an early listen of their take on Flatt & Scruggs’ 1954 single, “I’d Rather Be Alone.” 

“For the album, each of us brought a song to the table that we wanted to sing and that had meaning to us,” remembers Book. “I reached out to my friend, Jon Weisberger, and asked him if he’d suggest a song that he thought hadn’t been overdone and would suit my voice. I was thrilled when he suggested ‘I’d Rather Be Alone’ because I was familiar with it but hadn’t really played it much or learned the lyrics and it was a perfect fit.”

The band quickly locked into easy bounce of the rhythm section and loping vocal delivery. “It’s a lament and it’s a sad song but it’s so beautiful,” says Book. “The way the melody hangs the line out there— “You say you’re sorry that you went awaaaaay”—it’s just classic Flatt & Scruggs!”

Fans can listen to “I’d Rather Be Alone” today at this link and pre-order or pre-save A Tribute to Flatt & Scruggs ahead of its April 21st release, including a specialty vinyl pressing here. Fans can also pre-order the full suite of Flatt & Scruggs merch via a bundle here.

The Stringdusters are back on the road this weekend in Killington, Vermont, before making a run through some of Colorado’s most beautiful and beloved mountain towns through the end of the month.

A full list of tour dates can be found below or at thestringdusters.com/tour. 

A Tribute To Flatt & Scruggs Tracklist:

I’d Rather Be Alone 

Will You Be Lonesome 

Blue Ridge Cabin Home 

Earl’s Breakdown 

Cabin on the Hill

Down the Road 

Catch The Infamous Stringdusters On Tour:

Feb. 11 – Killington, VT – Killington Ski Resort

Feb. 24 – Frisco, CO – 10 Mile Music Hall

Feb. 25 – Frisco, CO – 10 Mile Music Hall

Feb. 26 – Telluride, CO – Sheridan Opera House

Feb. 27 – Telluride, CO – Sheridan Opera House

Feb. 28 – Crested Butte, CO – Center for the Arts

March 1 – Crested Butte, CO – Center for the Arts

March 3 – Steamboat Springs, CO – WinterWonderGrass

March 4 – Fort Collins, CO – Washington’s

March 5 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre 

March 23-26 – Live Oak, FL – Suwanee Spring Reunion

April 20-21 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room 

April 22 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall

April 23 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall

May 5-6 – Baltimore, MD – Charm City Bluegrass Festival

May 19-20 – Clive, IA – Greenbelt Music Festival

May 25-28 – Cumberland, MD – DelFest

June 1-3 – Oak Hill, WV – Mountain Music Festival

June 15-18 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Bluegrass Festival

June 21-24 – Owensboro, KY – ROMP Fest

June 22-24 – Eau Claire, WI – Blue Ox Festival

June 29-July 2 – Quincy, CA – High Sierra Music Festival

For a full list of tour dates and ticket information, please visit thestringdusters.com/tour.

More About The Infamous Stringdusters: The Infamous Stringdusters is a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band, that first emerged in 2006, consisting of members Andy Hall (dobro), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Andy Falco (guitar), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), and Travis Book (bass). The “Dusters” won three awards at the IBMAs in October 2007 for Emerging Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (for Fork in the Road), and Song of the Year for the album’s title track. The band was also nominated at the IBMAs in 2017 for Entertainer of the Year. In 2011, “Magic No. 9” (from Things That Fly) was nominated for Best Country Instrumental Performance at the 2011 Grammys, while in 2018 the band won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for Laws of Gravity. 2021’s A Tribute to Bill Monroe and 2022’s Toward The Fray earned the band another two Grammy nominations. Their latest project, A Tribute to Flatt & Scruggs, will be released on April 21st, 2023.