And it was incredible. There were only about 80 people there, in an intimate venue (an art museum, naturally), and Steve was just as charming and funny as you’d expect him to be. And he can play.
Of course he was joined by five other immensely talented musicians, The Steep Canyon Rangers. They were all top-notch, playing mostly instrumentals but with some vocal songs thrown in there, with excellent voices and tight harmonies.
Bluegrass music isn’t the kind of thing I listen to casually, but the wall of sound these guys created was truly wonderful… and no microphones! I was in the fourth row, maybe 15 feet from them, and I loved how their “sound system” consisted of having the soloist take a step forward and everyone else taking a step back. And Steve kept the patter going between songs. "My wife actually named this next song… It’s called “When Are You Gonna Stop Playing That Goddamn Banjo?”.
Anyway, I highly recommend his new album, The Crow, as well as anything from The Steep Canyon Rangers. Good stuff!
I put that on my Amazon wishlist a couple months ago and was ever-so-pleased that someone actually bought it for me for my birthday. I was not disappointed. The liner notes were especially enjoyable, lol. If you are demented enough to be a banjo fan it’s a must have.
He played on the recent finale of American Idol, too. When asked by Ryan Seacrest who he hoped would win, he said, “This may be a stretch, but I’d say ‘me’.”
I once saw him and John Lithgow play banjo together.
I think I’d kill for either an audio or video copy of that.
For those of you are going “whut?”, here’s YouTube clip of Mr. Martin strutting his stuff with a few other musicians playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown and The Crow
The Steep Canyon Rangers are a very fine bluegrass band. I have seen them play many times. If you enjoyed them, other young bluegrass bands I would recommend are King Wilkie,Chatham County Line, and Packway Handle Band. I believe King Wilkie plays New York quite often. (They may be based up there now.)
King Wilkie started in bluegrass, but they have expanded their musical horizons quite a bit, as you will be able to tell from the link.
He’s also an accomplished playwright; his Picasso at the Lapin Agile is well worth seeing if you get a chance. Very funny and very smart writing. He was in the news this year when a high school production of the play was canceled after some parents complained about the subject matter; Martin offered to fund a production of the play off-campus so that the students could continue. He’s a real class act.
There were only about 80 people there, in an intimate venue (an art museum, naturally), and Steve was just as charming and funny as you’d expect him to be. And he can play.