On Feb. 10, The Seldom Scene will be in Los Angeles attending the Grammy Awards, after garnering its first nomination. On Feb. 1, though, the bluegrass band will be making a pit stop at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., to show off its nomination-worthy sound.

The Washington D.C.-based band can't really tour continuously because most of its members have day jobs. They've become self-described "weekend warrior" types who try to perform as much as they can once the workweek ends.

"We don't tour very much, and we're not out there like a lot of the folks are, so for us to be nominated is just pretty incredible," said Dudley Connell, lead singer and guitar player. "It feels really, really good, and to tell you the truth, really surprising."

The Seldom Scene has been around since 1971 though only one original member remains. After 37 years and nearly 20 albums, the band has made a name for itself within the bluegrass scene.

"We have a distinct sound because the choice of material is kind of all over the place. That's been one of the things that's helped establish this band as a unique entity," Connell said. "The choice of material runs from James Taylor to Muddy Waters to the Stanley Brothers. We really don't have any restrictions on what we'll attempt."

Most of The Seldom Scene's catalogue is saturated with folksy, bluegrass renditions of other artists' songs, creating a vast musical depth. The instruments the band uses are typical bluegrass acoustic pieces such as the banjo, the mandolin and the dobro.

"These guys are definite performers. They love interacting, and the State Theatre is just an intimate experience. Basically anyone that's going to be on stage can't help but interact with the audience," said Kristy Cyone, marketing manager for the State Theatre. "There's going to be a lot of high energy with them when they're here."

Connell attributed a reinvigorated bluegrass following partly to the success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and younger performers such as Alison Krauss. The growing fanbase will probably have people traveling from out of town to see the show, Cyone said.

The band's set list varies by show, but the group will play around six songs from its Grammy-nominated album, Scenechronized, Connell said. A large portion of the set will be up to the audience. "A lot of it is driven by the audience -- requests and things like that," Connell said. "We're slowly trying to introduce new material, too, so it's kind of a combination of the two."

As for the State Theatre venue, the programming managers are trying their hardest to be as eclectic as possible, Cyone said.

"We don't want to say that just because our rock shows or independent shows might sell out that that's the only thing we're going to have," Cyone said. "We want to have a nice blend and lots of different kinds of music to bring to the area and maybe expose someone to something that they might not necessarily go to. They'll come and see it here and get introduced to a whole new style of music."