20/20 - 20 New Songs for our 20th Year as a Band - coming 2.13.26

A new Dusters album is on the way, and this one has something extra - it’s 20 new originals to celebrate our 20th year as a band. Twenty years! Time flies when you’re having fun. And while fun is certainly part of the equation, there’s also a lot of hard work that goes into it, and this new album is evidence of that. We wrote almost 50 new originals for this album and ultimately trimmed it down to 20. We took the time to learn and arrange all of those 50 songs, enough so that we could get a sense of what was what. The strongest stuff rose right to the top, and we worked together to figure out how to fill out the album. That process was made easier when we decided that this wasn’t going to be 10 or 11 songs. It would be 20 songs. And that’s a big part of the story here. 20/20 is not about fitting into some industry mold or getting on some curator’s radar. It’s simply a gift for out amazing fans who have been with us for so long. And since it’s for them (and for us) we just thought, more is better.

For me, this project is special because it features my first solo contributions to the Stringduster songbook. I’ve written many instrumentals that we have recorded over the years, and I’ve certainly had a hand in collaborating on songs, but my latest passion is writing my own songs from the ground up. I guess lyrics is the big distinction here, and I’ve always loved expressing myself with words, so that part was pretty natural. And of course, singing is a big component. I think that’s one of the main reasons I never gravitated toward songwriting - our band has a lot of singers, and especially early on, there was limited air time. I was also hugely influenced by instrumental music so I leaned into that. I have 4 full solo albums of instrumental music! But I also love to sing, and now, to write songs.

One other noteworthy thing about this album is that it features perhaps the coolest album cover we have ever had. Designed by my friend The Real Theory, it has such a distinct aesthetic, with imagery that captures the concept of looking back over our long career and everything we’ve learned, while also looking ahead to what’s next. All that history, and there’s no sign of slowing down. I have people ask me from time to time if it’s still interesting, the tone of their voice indicating that they’d be surprised if it was. It’s not easy and it’s not for everyone, but it’s not boring even in the slightest. This part might be luck, but somehow the Duster train is rolling steady as ever, making music that I believe is the best we’ve ever made.