CMT Blog: Earl Scruggs

I took a road trip last weekend with a friend of mine who likes bluegrass music. As he was flipping through my CD carrier, I think he was reluctant when I suggested Steve Martin’s banjo album, The Crow, but we ended up listening to it a couple of times. It’s one of the finest albums I’ve heard all year, especially when Vince Gill and Dolly Parton sing to each other on “Pretty Flowers,” with Earl Scruggs joining Martin on the banjo lines. If that sounds like you’re cup of tea, check out a few other indie artists on this summer playlist.

“Clawhammer Medley,” Steve Martin
“Two Days of Darkness,” the Belleville Outfit
“Cuba Vera Swing,” Spring Creek (with Michael Cleveland)
Read more…

From the moment Vince Gill was introduced last night (Feb. 24) at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as “country’s favorite knucklehead,” he had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand with a mix of humor and stellar musicianship. This was the last of his artist-in-residency shows at the Hall, a program that has previously honored Cowboy Jack Clement, Earl Scruggs, Tom T. Hall, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Douglas, and Gill intended to make the best of it with a three-hour performance that featured jokes and guest appearances.

Read more…

He’s got guts, that Steve Martin. Yes, that Steve Martin. He is almost ready to release a banjo album. But just so you know, Martin isn’t just another Hollywood celeb trying to go country. He went country a long, long time ago when he got hooked on banjo as a teen in the early ‘60s. I remember watching him on Saturday Night Live in the ‘70s and being surprised at how good he really was. And seeing him on The Late Show With David Letterman a few years ago, I was again pretty blown away watching him keep up with Earl Scruggs on “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” And now he’s teamed up with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s John McEuen, another phenom, to make a banjo record due out in spring of 2009. Martin wrote all 15 songs and spent time recording in Nashville with Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and Earl Scruggs. He even does some singing on the album. Sign me up for this one right on release day.

When Levon Helm’s friends showed up Wednesday night (Sept. 17) in downtown Nashville for his concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, his admirers onstage included Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow, Delbert McClinton, Billy Bob Thornton, Buddy Miller and Sam Bush. Oh, and two people from the audience — Steve Earle and Allison Moorer — also climbed onstage to help close the show. It was the kickoff for the Americana Music Festival and Conference that’s taking place here this week.

Read more…

Last night I had one of those Nashville moments, when I found myself watching some of my favorite musicians at an easygoing show at the Country Music Hall of Fame. No big deal - just Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice … I swear, I’ll never get used to seeing that caliber of talent all in one place. Douglas is currently the museum’s artist-in-residence, and this was his third show in a series of four. I’m always impressed with his own musical output, but when you have Alison Krauss singing along with the Louvin Brothers‘ “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby,” then everything goes up a notch.

Read more…

Four Corners Folk Festival - Aug. 29-31; Pagosa Springs, Colo.
This one gets in my list because I have a soft spot for about 90 percent of the performers there. The lineup includes most of my favorite young acoustic bands like the Infamous Stringdusters, Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile, the Waifs, Crooked Still, the Wilders, the Greencards, Bearfoot and many, many more. I’ve never made it to this one, but the more I think about it I might now have plans for Labor Day weekend.

Read more…

When I was 16, my summers were filled with lifeguarding at the local pool and listening to dreadful boy bands. Sarah Jarosz (pronounced Juh-rose) is a 16-year-old from Wimberly, Texas, who spends her summers traveling from bluegrass festival to bluegrass festival, and has just signed a record deal with Sugar Hill Records, set for a 2009 release.

Read more…

The first time I Googled “Coachella Festival,” I was surprised to see we would be playing alongside Portishead. Only later did I realize we were playing the “Country Coachella,” better known as Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. And to be honest, I was happier because it meant I would get to see The Judds. This may surprise some of you, but as a kid, my brother and I would listen to those records every weekend. Looking at the line-up, everything else was secondary — Earl Scruggs, Sam Bush, Riders in the Sky. Had any of them recorded “Grandpa”? Or “River Of Time”? I don’t think so…

Read more…

Merlefest is probably the world’s largest Americana and roots music festival. I was at the very first Merle Watson Memorial Festival (as it was called in those days) 21 years ago. The first concert featured jams with Chet Atkins, Doc, Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Jim Shumate, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Grandpa Jones, Marty Stuart, Newgrass Revival, John Hartford, Mark O’Connor and others inside the Walker Center and outside on a flatbed truck stage. I remember sitting on hay bales outside watching the whole thing go down. A few years later, I was playing Merlefest as a member of Alison Krauss and Union Station. One particular year was memorable because the mainstage show consisted of us and Ronnie Milsap, who just murdered the crowd with a solo guitar version of “Knoxville Girl.”

Read more…

Jessica Simpson may be moving into a $3.5 million home in Nashville, where she’s planning a country album. Looks mighty nice from the air.

Randy Travis is heading to California for a William Shatner charity event. Wonder if he got a good deal on Priceline.com?

An American Idol finalist’s dream duet is with her favorite male singer, Jason Aldean.

Two of Nashville’s finest citizens, Emmylou Harris and mother, Eugenia, talk about pet adoption in this new public service announcement.

“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” is turning 50, so Gibson is building a new, limited edition Earl Scruggs banjo, with the first five signed by the man himself.