As a founding member and bass player for The Infamous Stringdusters, Travis Book has seen the group score three Grammy nominations including a win for Best Bluegrass Album for Laws Of Gravity in 2018, as well as seven IBMA nominations with four wins in several categories over their now 18-year run, which is chock full of sold out shows, and gigs at ultra-coveted venues like The Ryman and festivals like Telluride and Bonnaroo.
What do you do with all that success as you look at the likelihood of just, you know, more success? Well, if you are a music artist, one great way to freshen things up and fall in love all over again with making music is to do what artists like Libby Rodenbough of Mipso did, as well as Noam Pikelny of Punch Brothers, and what Hot Rize did with Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers: solo albums and side projects. That is where we find Travis Book today, having made his solo album Love and Other Strange Emotions. I found Travis Book at his home in Brevard, North Carolina, on a Tuesday afternoon in fall 2023, ahead of a show in his ongoing series at the venue 185 King Street. We talked about where he finds himself in his music career, the abundance of great musicians in his hometown, making his own podcast The Travis Book Happy Hour, and sample music from his debut solo album along the way.
