Lester Flatt - Sparta, TN
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 35° 55.539 W 085° 27.833
16S E 638581 N 3976792
Relief Statue shows him pluckin' a guitar
Waymark Code: WMXAX8
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 12/19/2017
Views: 4
County of statue: White County
Location of statue: W. Bockman Way, courthouse lawn, Sparta
Memorial erected by: City of Sparta
Date erected: October 13, 2001
Text on Memorial:
Dedicated in Honor of
LESTER FLATT
of Sparta, Tennessee
LESTER RAYMOND FLATT (1914-1979)
Was one of the Forefathers
of the American Bluegrass
Style of Music
Liberty Square - Sparta, TN
October 13, 2001
"After two decades of success and influence, Flatt and Scruggs parted ways due to musical differences. The banjo player would eventually start a new band with his sons, while Flatt hired a majority of the Foggy Mountain Boys' ensemble musicians to create a new act, Nashville Grass. With the bluegrass festival scene starting to blossom in the early 1970s, Flatt's new offerings were well received and beloved.
"In 1967, Lester Flatt suffered a heart attack that would lead to future health complications and result in his retirement by the end of the next decade. The bluegrass community deeply mourned the loss of a legend when Flatt passed away on May 11, 1979. Claire Lynch would later write a song called "The Day That Lester Died," echoing an entire community's grief with the lyrics, "The songs will live on, we'll sing them again, but somehow it will never be the same."
"Lester Flatt was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985 and is remembered today as one of the true legends of bluegrass. With a guitar in hand, there wasn't a studio or stage that Flatt didn't command with his natural grace. Remarking on his own truly down-home style of performing, he once said, "People will say to me, 'I see you on television, and you're the most relaxed guy I ever saw.' I just can't do it any other way. I have to be like I am at home — if I can't... I might as well forget it."' ~ Biography, A&E TV