This New Music Friday we bring you The Infamous Stringdusters take on the Bill Monroe classic, "Toy Heart". "Toy Heart" appears on 'A Tribute to Bill Monroe', the 'Dusters most recent album where they give their interpretations on 7 classic tunes from the Monroe catalog. The Infamous Stringdusters website states:
The Infamous Stringdusters dig deep into their bluegrass roots for their eleventh full-length record A Tribute to Bill Monroe, made available on Americana Vibes. For this album - which pays homage to the Father of Bluegrass includes songs that shaped them individually, and as a band, and recorded them each remotely from their home studios.
“Bill Monroe was, as far as I can remember, the first bluegrass music I owned,” shared Andy Hall. I asked my uncle for a Bill Monroe CD box set and got it as a birthday present when I turned 18. The sound coming out of my speakers blew my mind, almost like ancient acoustic heavy metal. But then a song like ‘A Voice From On High’ would come on, and even though it was slow, it had this captivating power. The ancient tones.”
The GRAMMY® Award-winning quintet—Andy Falco [guitar], Chris Pandolfi [banjo], Andy Hall [dobro], Jeremy Garrett [fiddle], and Travis Book [double bass]—have musical influences that truly run the gamut, but their common denominator is certainly bluegrass -- the sound that has in essence defined the course of their career.
This particular body of work, the first in a series of bluegrass tribute albums, was an obvious choice in that Bill Monroe truly laid the foundation for bluegrass as we know it today.
The Infamous Stringdusters' version of "Toy Heart" sits right in the middle of the track listing of 'A Tribute to Bill Monroe' at #4, picking up the speed after "Sitting Alone in the Moonlight" at #3 gave us a tempo that urges you to hold someone close. "Toy Heart" wastes no time switching the mood and preparing us for the stomper that "Old Dangerfield" at #5 follows. Visit The Infamous Stringdusters' store to purchase 'A Tribute to Bill Monroe' and listen to "Toy Heart" below.
