When he was three years old, Jerry Douglas heard the groundbreaking banjo licks of Earl Scruggs on the turntable each morning during breakfast at his childhood home in northeastern Ohio.
“And we’d hear the Flatt & Scruggs [Grand Ole Opry] radio show on Wsm if there was clear weather between Ohio and Nashville,” Douglas, a staple of today’s bluegrass, tells Rolling Stone. “Flatt & Scruggs was a big deal in our house. But, Earl’s banjo playing was the first thing I ever heard that I wanted to do — nothing...
“And we’d hear the Flatt & Scruggs [Grand Ole Opry] radio show on Wsm if there was clear weather between Ohio and Nashville,” Douglas, a staple of today’s bluegrass, tells Rolling Stone. “Flatt & Scruggs was a big deal in our house. But, Earl’s banjo playing was the first thing I ever heard that I wanted to do — nothing...
- 9/6/2023
- by Garret K. Woodward
- Rollingstone.com
In the span of less than a week, the bluegrass community was rocked to its core: Jesse McReynolds and Bobby Osborne, two pioneering voices and musicians of the “high, lonesome sound,” died within mere days of each other.
McReynolds died June 23 at 93, while four days later, Osborne died at 91 on June 27. Both were renowned mandolin players and singers, whose melodic innovation and artistic integrity within bluegrass has echoed throughout the genre since its inception in the mid-20th century.
“I just can’t remember a time in my life without hearing them,...
McReynolds died June 23 at 93, while four days later, Osborne died at 91 on June 27. Both were renowned mandolin players and singers, whose melodic innovation and artistic integrity within bluegrass has echoed throughout the genre since its inception in the mid-20th century.
“I just can’t remember a time in my life without hearing them,...
- 6/29/2023
- by Garret K. Woodward
- Rollingstone.com
Forty-nine years ago, a front-page headline in Nashville’s Tennessean proclaimed “Marty’s a Mandolin Pro at 15,” heralding Marty Stuart’s teenaged role in Lester Flatt’s late-period band Nashville Grass. Stuart would also tour with Johnny Cash and achieve mainstream country success before establishing himself and his longtime band, the Superlatives, as stalwarts of the musically expansive Americana landscape.
Now a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Stuart’s efforts to honor country’s traditions while injecting his music with the rock & roll he began playing as...
Now a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Stuart’s efforts to honor country’s traditions while injecting his music with the rock & roll he began playing as...
- 5/19/2023
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
When Marty Stuart was growing up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the Ellis Theater downtown could practically qualify as his second home. He watched the 1969 film Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music in the old movie house, and lived to tell the Man in Black about it after joining his band in 1980.
But today, with decades of success in Nashville to his credit — first as a sideman to bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, then Cash, and finally as a bandleader in his own right — Stuart has reclaimed the 500-seat venue in...
But today, with decades of success in Nashville to his credit — first as a sideman to bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, then Cash, and finally as a bandleader in his own right — Stuart has reclaimed the 500-seat venue in...
- 5/1/2023
- by Jim Beaugez
- Rollingstone.com
Back when TV viewers were limited to three channel options, a silly show called The Beverly Hillbillies started at the top of the Nielsen ratings and stayed there for nine years. Panned by critics, the quirky comedy entertained audiences and made several actors famous. So, are any Beverly Hillbillies cast members still alive?
‘The Beverly Hillbillies’: A story about a man named Jed ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ cast | CBS via Getty Images
In 1962, the first episode of The Beverly Hillbillies introduced America to Jed, Granny, and Elly May Clampett, along with their cousin Pearl and her grown son, Jethro Bodine. After the Clampetts strike it rich, Bodine drives them to California, where they meet banker Milburn Drysdale and his unpretentious secretary, Miss Jane Hathaway.
Each Beverly Hillbillies episode opened and closed with a portion of “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” Composed by show creator Paul Henning, the banjo-driven ditty was...
‘The Beverly Hillbillies’: A story about a man named Jed ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ cast | CBS via Getty Images
In 1962, the first episode of The Beverly Hillbillies introduced America to Jed, Granny, and Elly May Clampett, along with their cousin Pearl and her grown son, Jethro Bodine. After the Clampetts strike it rich, Bodine drives them to California, where they meet banker Milburn Drysdale and his unpretentious secretary, Miss Jane Hathaway.
Each Beverly Hillbillies episode opened and closed with a portion of “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” Composed by show creator Paul Henning, the banjo-driven ditty was...
- 2/5/2023
- by Kaanii Powell Cleaver
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Marty Stuart spins some fantastical stories where fiction and reality blur in the new song “Country Star,” recorded with his band the Fabulous Superlatives. It’s the first new single Stuart has released since putting out the trippy, surf-inspired album Way Out West in 2017.
A jangling country-rock tune with some lively lead guitar licks, “Country Star” hurtles along with considerable momentum and gives Stuart a chance to make some absurd boasts. “I was raised by alligators in the Pearl River swamp/started a-dancin’ on the boogie-woogie stump,” he sings at one point.
A jangling country-rock tune with some lively lead guitar licks, “Country Star” hurtles along with considerable momentum and gives Stuart a chance to make some absurd boasts. “I was raised by alligators in the Pearl River swamp/started a-dancin’ on the boogie-woogie stump,” he sings at one point.
- 11/17/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Billy Strings will go back to where it all began with his new album Me/And/Dad, a collaborative project between the young bluegrass star and his father, Terry Barber. The new project featuring country and bluegrass classics will be released Nov. 18 and includes two songs that were released today: “Long Journey Home” and “Life to Go.”
The traditional tune “Long Journey Home” shows off Strings’ lightning-fast picking as well as the harmonizing between him and Barber, who also plays guitar on the track. “Life to Go” is an acoustic...
The traditional tune “Long Journey Home” shows off Strings’ lightning-fast picking as well as the harmonizing between him and Barber, who also plays guitar on the track. “Life to Go” is an acoustic...
- 10/3/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Throughout his career, bluegrass banjo master J.D. Crowe selflessly made room in his band the New South for innovators. Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, and Jerry Douglas all played in the group, which, under Crowe’s leadership, tested the limits of tradition-minded bluegrass culture by welcoming electric instruments and embracing songs from the folk and rock worlds.
In the late 1970s, he hired vocalist Keith Whitley and recalibrated the New South around the Kentuckian’s country music inclinations, in effect giving Whitley the platform he needed to launch his Nashville career in the 1980s.
In the late 1970s, he hired vocalist Keith Whitley and recalibrated the New South around the Kentuckian’s country music inclinations, in effect giving Whitley the platform he needed to launch his Nashville career in the 1980s.
- 12/26/2021
- by Michael Streissguth
- Rollingstone.com
J.D. Crowe, a pioneering banjo player with his progressive bluegrass group the New South, died Friday morning, according to a post on the musician’s Facebook page. He was 84.
“This morning at around 3 a.m. our dad, Jd Crowe, went home,” Crowe’s family wrote. “Prayers needed for all during this difficult time.”
A seminal figure in the bluegrass world, Crowe was a disciple of Earl Scruggs and played banjo in Scruggs’ three-fingered style. Yet he was also an experimentalist and pushed the genre outside of its traditional, at times constrictive,...
“This morning at around 3 a.m. our dad, Jd Crowe, went home,” Crowe’s family wrote. “Prayers needed for all during this difficult time.”
A seminal figure in the bluegrass world, Crowe was a disciple of Earl Scruggs and played banjo in Scruggs’ three-fingered style. Yet he was also an experimentalist and pushed the genre outside of its traditional, at times constrictive,...
- 12/24/2021
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
When guitarist Tony Rice died on Christmas Day in his North Carolina home, bluegrass music bade farewell to a second-generation star who expressed his music in modern terms and embraced bluegrass’s potential to both blend with and influence other genres.
“The music business has lost a true innovator,” says Jimmy Gaudreau, who played mandolin with Rice in the Eighties and Nineties. “As far as the guitar players of today, they name Tony Rice as the number one influence.”
Rice emerged in the vanguard of bluegrass music when he joined...
“The music business has lost a true innovator,” says Jimmy Gaudreau, who played mandolin with Rice in the Eighties and Nineties. “As far as the guitar players of today, they name Tony Rice as the number one influence.”
Rice emerged in the vanguard of bluegrass music when he joined...
- 12/28/2020
- by Michael Streissguth
- Rollingstone.com
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum found the inspiration for its upcoming fundraising event from an unlikely source: penguins.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when museums and nearly everything else were forced to close down, Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium managed to create a viral moment by letting its penguins roam loose in the facility and broadcasting the shenanigans online. The penguins were early quarantine stars. Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young was among those watching.
“They were looking at the fish swimming around,” Young recalls.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when museums and nearly everything else were forced to close down, Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium managed to create a viral moment by letting its penguins roam loose in the facility and broadcasting the shenanigans online. The penguins were early quarantine stars. Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young was among those watching.
“They were looking at the fish swimming around,” Young recalls.
- 10/27/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will put to use some of the most iconic instruments in the genre’s history for its upcoming “Big Night” fundraiser, set for Wednesday, October 28th. Included among the newly announced instrument and artist pairings are guitars once owned by Johnny Cash, Mother Maybelle Carter, and Jimmie Rodgers.
The artist lineup for the event, which will be hosted by Marty Stuart, runs the gamut from contemporary stars like Miranda Lambert and Kane Brown to Americana favorites like Keb’ Mo’ and Lucinda Williams,...
The artist lineup for the event, which will be hosted by Marty Stuart, runs the gamut from contemporary stars like Miranda Lambert and Kane Brown to Americana favorites like Keb’ Mo’ and Lucinda Williams,...
- 10/14/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart, and songwriter Dean Dillon are the 2020 class of inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Country Music Association made the announcement on Wednesday morning.
Williams will fill the “Veterans Era Artist” slot, Stuart will be inducted as the “Modern Era Artist,” and Dillon in the “Songwriter” category, which rotates every three years with the “Non-Performer” and “Recording and/or Touring Musician” inductees.
Williams’ induction comes nearly 60 years after his father — the still influential Hank Williams — was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Williams will fill the “Veterans Era Artist” slot, Stuart will be inducted as the “Modern Era Artist,” and Dillon in the “Songwriter” category, which rotates every three years with the “Non-Performer” and “Recording and/or Touring Musician” inductees.
Williams’ induction comes nearly 60 years after his father — the still influential Hank Williams — was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
- 8/12/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
In June 1970, Elvis Presley made the trip east from his Graceland home in Memphis to Nashville, where he holed up in RCA Studio B on Music Row for five days of recording. Presley, who was in the midst of his Las Vegas comeback at the International Hotel, was joined by Music City sessions players like Charlie McCoy and Norbert Putnam — the legendary “Nashville Cats.” The result came to be known among fans as the “marathon sessions.”
Now, a new four-disc compilation assembles the masters from those halcyon days and captures Presley at his energetic best.
Now, a new four-disc compilation assembles the masters from those halcyon days and captures Presley at his energetic best.
- 8/7/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
The birth of banjo great Earl Scruggs — born 96 years ago on January 6th, 1924, in the Cleveland County community of Flint Hill, North Carolina — predated the debut of the Grand Ole Opry by less than two years, but since then the musician has become synonymous with the Opry, as well as bluegrass and country music.
In late September 1961, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, played a show at Greenville, South Carolina’s Memorial Auditorium, alongside fellow Opry stars Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Minnie Pearl, Mother Maybelle Carter,...
In late September 1961, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, played a show at Greenville, South Carolina’s Memorial Auditorium, alongside fellow Opry stars Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Minnie Pearl, Mother Maybelle Carter,...
- 1/6/2020
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
On November 28th, 1925, 94 years ago this week, the Wsm Barn Dance was born. Fashioned after the already popular National Barn Dance, which premiered in April 1924 on Chicago radio station Wls, the show would later be christened the Grand Ole Opry, after host George D. Hay noted that a slate of performers playing hillbilly music, fiddle tunes, and the like would follow a just-completed classical music program. On a Saturday night in 1927, just before harmonica whiz DeFord Bailey played “Pan American Blues,” Hay told the radio audience, “For the next three hours,...
- 11/28/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Hopping off the tailgate of his Sprinter touring van, Billy Strings readies himself for a rollicking set at the inaugural Railbird festival in Lexington, Kentucky. The six-string virtuoso grabs his guitar and tunes up, running through a few signature licks.
Strings sits back down and observes the other bands and festivalgoers milling about backstage. You can see it in his eyes: he’s engaged in a constant stream of thought as his fingers move up and down the fretboard. But that’s Strings — always watching. He takes those observations and...
Strings sits back down and observes the other bands and festivalgoers milling about backstage. You can see it in his eyes: he’s engaged in a constant stream of thought as his fingers move up and down the fretboard. But that’s Strings — always watching. He takes those observations and...
- 10/2/2019
- by Garret K. Woodward
- Rollingstone.com
Musician Rosanne Cash is used to speaking about her father Johnny Cash. After all, she’s been living in his shadow her entire life and even wrote a memoir in 2010 that in part examines her rocky relationship with him. But for Ken Burns’ new miniseries “Country Music” – which details the creation of modern country music – she was unprepared for the emotional journey that revisiting the past would bring.
“Well, some places they went were painful like, ‘What did you sing at your dad’s deathbed?'” Rosanne Cash told IndieWire. “I think that was the first time I told that.”
“Country Music,” delves into these details – not to mine personal tragedy – but to highlight the often complex and tumultuous lives that these legends in the industry led. So much heartache, loneliness, and yes, drama, made headlines and yet simultaneously fueled art.
Straight From the Musician’s Mouth
There’s an additional storytelling benefit,...
“Well, some places they went were painful like, ‘What did you sing at your dad’s deathbed?'” Rosanne Cash told IndieWire. “I think that was the first time I told that.”
“Country Music,” delves into these details – not to mine personal tragedy – but to highlight the often complex and tumultuous lives that these legends in the industry led. So much heartache, loneliness, and yes, drama, made headlines and yet simultaneously fueled art.
Straight From the Musician’s Mouth
There’s an additional storytelling benefit,...
- 9/15/2019
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Marty Stuart’s led a willfully charmed life. As an 11-year-old, he met hit singer Connie Smith at a concert he attended, and told his mom he’d marry Smith some day (he did). He hit his career stride at 13 playing virtuoso mandolin and guitar with bluegrass architect Lester Flatt; he joined Johnny Cash’s band (and married his daughter Cindy) in the Eighties, became a solo hitmaker in the Nineties, and an expansive Americana standard-bearer in the 2000s. Stuart’s also one of the world’s foremost country experts...
- 9/15/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Just ahead of the September 15th premiere of the eight-part PBS documentary Country Music – A Film By Ken Burns, Legacy Recordings will unveil musical highlights from the 16-and-a-half-hour series with a deluxe five-cd set spanning the history of the genre.
The impressive track list represents artists featured in each of the series’ episodes, from the first stars of the genre, such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, to influential acts from the latter half of the 20th century, including Randy Travis and the Judds. The set will be released Friday,...
The impressive track list represents artists featured in each of the series’ episodes, from the first stars of the genre, such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, to influential acts from the latter half of the 20th century, including Randy Travis and the Judds. The set will be released Friday,...
- 6/13/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Vince Gill was having some trouble with the teleprompter during the taping of Ken Burns’ all-star “Country Music: Live at the Ryman” concert in Nashville on Wednesday night.
“That’s why I didn’t go to college — I suck at reading,” he joked with characteristic self-deprecating humor after flubbing one of his lines. The show was taped for broadcast on PBS stations at a later date.
Fortunately, the Oklahoma native was in peak form doing everything else during an evening that celebrated a type of music that routinely reconnects with its roots and,...
“That’s why I didn’t go to college — I suck at reading,” he joked with characteristic self-deprecating humor after flubbing one of his lines. The show was taped for broadcast on PBS stations at a later date.
Fortunately, the Oklahoma native was in peak form doing everything else during an evening that celebrated a type of music that routinely reconnects with its roots and,...
- 3/28/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary Country Music will begin airing on PBS stations before the year is out, but a piece of it will live on forever at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. At a press conference on Wednesday in Nashville, Burns showed a clip from the documentary and announced that he would be donating all the transcripts and interviews from the project to the Hall of Fame.
The eight-part documentary, on which Burns worked with regular collaborators Dayton Duncan and Julie Dunfey, was filmed over the course...
The eight-part documentary, on which Burns worked with regular collaborators Dayton Duncan and Julie Dunfey, was filmed over the course...
- 3/27/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Over his 70-plus years in the spotlight, singer and guitarist Mac Wiseman helped build bluegrass and modern country music from the ground up. He remained a valuable mentor and ambassador for both genres until his death on February 24th. He was 93.
Of the many accomplishments from Wiseman’s career, two best represent his longevity and influence. He was the final surviving member of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ original Foggy Mountain Boys. That fact alone makes him a key figure in the commercial and musical development of 1940s bluegrass. He...
Of the many accomplishments from Wiseman’s career, two best represent his longevity and influence. He was the final surviving member of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ original Foggy Mountain Boys. That fact alone makes him a key figure in the commercial and musical development of 1940s bluegrass. He...
- 2/25/2019
- by Bobby Moore
- Rollingstone.com
Longtime Grand Ole Opry member Marty Stuart was profiled on the CBS magazine show Sunday Morning this week, with a spotlight on his mission to preserve country music’s historical treasures.
Stuart, who has collected more than 20,000 artifacts, from Hank Williams’ suits to Patsy Cline’s train case, which he purchased at a Nashville junk shop for $75 in 1980, opened the doors to one of the warehouses north of Music City where some of that memorabilia is stored, sharing the inspiration for what has become a passion project for the past 40 years.
Stuart, who has collected more than 20,000 artifacts, from Hank Williams’ suits to Patsy Cline’s train case, which he purchased at a Nashville junk shop for $75 in 1980, opened the doors to one of the warehouses north of Music City where some of that memorabilia is stored, sharing the inspiration for what has become a passion project for the past 40 years.
- 1/21/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
“Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix.”
Those words, penned by actor, comedian, author and banjo player Steve Martin, appeared in a New Yorker tribute following the 2012 death of legendary picker and Country Music Hall of Fame member Earl Scruggs, who revolutionized the three-finger style of banjo playing that now most commonly is referred to by his surname. Scruggs, who would have turned 95 years old on January 6th,...
Those words, penned by actor, comedian, author and banjo player Steve Martin, appeared in a New Yorker tribute following the 2012 death of legendary picker and Country Music Hall of Fame member Earl Scruggs, who revolutionized the three-finger style of banjo playing that now most commonly is referred to by his surname. Scruggs, who would have turned 95 years old on January 6th,...
- 1/11/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
When Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs took the Ryman Auditorium stage with Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys for their first appearance together on the Grand Ole Opry on December 8th, 1945, the moment was a sort of “big bang” for bluegrass. After leaving Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs would spin off into their own band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, performing together until an acrimonious split in early 1969.
With 13-year-old Marty Stuart in his new band, Nashville Grass, Flatt would continue on a more traditional musical path, while Scruggs recruited sons...
With 13-year-old Marty Stuart in his new band, Nashville Grass, Flatt would continue on a more traditional musical path, while Scruggs recruited sons...
- 1/10/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
During this week’s Cma Awards, three new inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame will be recognized. Along with legendary fiddle player Johnny Gimble and singer-songwriter Dottie West, both being recognized posthumously, eight-time Cma award winner Ricky Skaggs will be honored and is also listed as a performer.
The 1982 Horizon Award winner, Skaggs was only the second artist to earn that honor, now called New Artist of the Year. Skaggs was also largely responsible for returning bluegrass music to the mainstream, a feat that earned him the Cma...
The 1982 Horizon Award winner, Skaggs was only the second artist to earn that honor, now called New Artist of the Year. Skaggs was also largely responsible for returning bluegrass music to the mainstream, a feat that earned him the Cma...
- 11/13/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
As their clever name, a tribute to two all-time greats, suggests, Earls of Leicester pay homage with a powerful bluegrass sound dedicated solely to the music of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and delivered by six of the genre’s modern masters. The supergroup of pickers — Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, Barry Bales, Charlie Cushman, Johnny Warren and Jeff White — will release their latest Rounder Records album, Live at the Cma Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame, on September 28th.
Recorded over a two-night stand in Nashville, the LP...
Recorded over a two-night stand in Nashville, the LP...
- 9/20/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
The Recording Academy has released the inductees for the 2013 Grammy Hall of Fame and it's quite the interesting mix.
Just how far does the list run the gamut? Two of the inductees are Frank Sinatra's recording of "Theme from 'New York, New York'" and Richard Pryor's comedy album, "That N-----'s Crazy."
"With the Grammy Hall Of Fame celebrating 40 years, it's especially important to note that these entries continue the tradition of inducting a wide variety of recordings that have inspired and influenced both fans and music makers for generations," President/CEO of The Recording Academy Neil Portnow said in a release. "Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add them to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social, and cultural history."
Other standouts include AC/DC's "Back In Black," Elton John's self-titled album, and Billy Joel's "Piano Man.
Just how far does the list run the gamut? Two of the inductees are Frank Sinatra's recording of "Theme from 'New York, New York'" and Richard Pryor's comedy album, "That N-----'s Crazy."
"With the Grammy Hall Of Fame celebrating 40 years, it's especially important to note that these entries continue the tradition of inducting a wide variety of recordings that have inspired and influenced both fans and music makers for generations," President/CEO of The Recording Academy Neil Portnow said in a release. "Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add them to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social, and cultural history."
Other standouts include AC/DC's "Back In Black," Elton John's self-titled album, and Billy Joel's "Piano Man.
- 11/21/2012
- by Madeline Boardman
- Huffington Post
Earl Scruggs, the Bluegrass legend and banjo master, died Wednesday morning at the age of 88, and he has left his fans quite the musical legacy with his songs.
The Associated Press didn't mince words when describing the contributions Earl Scruggs bestowed upon this nation's culture, describing him as a "pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music," an icon in the vein of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.
The day after he died, Earl Scruggs fans turned to YouTube to record tributes. Some posted covers of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," the remarkable 1949 track by Scruggs and Lester Flatt, while others thanked him for his contributions to music. Still more fans were searching the web for recordings of his biggest hits.
Scores of celebrities remembered Scruggs on Twitter. Country star Dierks Bentley said Scruggs should always be remembered for inventing the three-finger style of playing the banjo and noted that Scruggs was not a single-genre icon.
The Associated Press didn't mince words when describing the contributions Earl Scruggs bestowed upon this nation's culture, describing him as a "pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music," an icon in the vein of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.
The day after he died, Earl Scruggs fans turned to YouTube to record tributes. Some posted covers of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," the remarkable 1949 track by Scruggs and Lester Flatt, while others thanked him for his contributions to music. Still more fans were searching the web for recordings of his biggest hits.
Scores of celebrities remembered Scruggs on Twitter. Country star Dierks Bentley said Scruggs should always be remembered for inventing the three-finger style of playing the banjo and noted that Scruggs was not a single-genre icon.
- 3/29/2012
- by Kia Makarechi
- Huffington Post
Earl Scruggs, the banjo playing, singing and composing great whose twanging bluegrass themes for TV's The Beverly Hillbillies and the Bonnie and Clyde movie achieved Top of the Chart status in the '60s, died Wednesday of natural causes at a Nashville hospital, his son Gary Scruggs told CNN. He was 88. "It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan-turned-country star Dierks Bentley told the Associated Press about Scruggs's output. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been there...
- 3/29/2012
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
Getty Images Musician Earl Scruggs performs onstage during day one of California’s Stagecoach Country Music Festival held at the Empire Polo Club on April 25, 2009 in Indio, California.
Earl Scruggs, the most significant banjo player in American music history, died of natural causes yesterday in a Nashville hospital. He was 88 years old.
Born in Shelby, North Carolina, Scruggs enjoyed artistic and commercial success with his distinctive three-finger picking style on the five-string banjo, which permitted him to play lightning quick...
Earl Scruggs, the most significant banjo player in American music history, died of natural causes yesterday in a Nashville hospital. He was 88 years old.
Born in Shelby, North Carolina, Scruggs enjoyed artistic and commercial success with his distinctive three-finger picking style on the five-string banjo, which permitted him to play lightning quick...
- 3/29/2012
- by Jim Fusilli
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Bluegrass and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs has passed away at the age of 88, says his son Gary. Scruggs died of natural causes Wednesday morning (March 28) at a Nashville, Tenn. hospital.
Scruggs is credited with bringing the banjo from a rhythm section instrument to a lead instrument by his three-finger approach to picking, rather than the clawhammer style. His way of playing became known as the "Scruggs picking style" that helped popularize the banjo across many different kinds of music.
He made his debut with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s at the Grand Ole Opry and later teamed with Lester Flatt. They were best known for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Scruggs and Flatt were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, but he hadn't stopped playing in recent years. Just 10 years ago he released "Earl Scruggs and Friends,...
Scruggs is credited with bringing the banjo from a rhythm section instrument to a lead instrument by his three-finger approach to picking, rather than the clawhammer style. His way of playing became known as the "Scruggs picking style" that helped popularize the banjo across many different kinds of music.
He made his debut with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s at the Grand Ole Opry and later teamed with Lester Flatt. They were best known for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Scruggs and Flatt were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, but he hadn't stopped playing in recent years. Just 10 years ago he released "Earl Scruggs and Friends,...
- 3/29/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Nashville, Tenn. -- It may be impossible to overstate the importance of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.
Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound...
Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound...
- 3/29/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Good Bye
Like Jafar Panahi, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is awaiting "execution of the verdict," a sentence of one year in jail delivered in December 2010. Unlike Panahi, whose sentence is six years, Rasoulof is free to travel in the meantime, a luxury — or, as many would see it, a right — denied Panahi for, foreseeably, 20 years. Rasoulof is currently a jury member at the Fribourg International Film Festival, running through Saturday, which has given Regula Fuchs an opportunity to interview him for the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger (thanks to Film-Zeit for the tip).
Fuchs first asks about the potential impact of the Oscar for Asghar Farhadi's A Separation on the Iranian film scene. Rasoulof: "The authorities see this Oscar as a confirmation of their policies toward filmmakers: By exercising their influence on Iranian cinema, they've made this foreign award possible."
On how one goes about making a film in Iran these days:...
Like Jafar Panahi, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is awaiting "execution of the verdict," a sentence of one year in jail delivered in December 2010. Unlike Panahi, whose sentence is six years, Rasoulof is free to travel in the meantime, a luxury — or, as many would see it, a right — denied Panahi for, foreseeably, 20 years. Rasoulof is currently a jury member at the Fribourg International Film Festival, running through Saturday, which has given Regula Fuchs an opportunity to interview him for the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger (thanks to Film-Zeit for the tip).
Fuchs first asks about the potential impact of the Oscar for Asghar Farhadi's A Separation on the Iranian film scene. Rasoulof: "The authorities see this Oscar as a confirmation of their policies toward filmmakers: By exercising their influence on Iranian cinema, they've made this foreign award possible."
On how one goes about making a film in Iran these days:...
- 3/29/2012
- MUBI
Nashville, Tenn. — It is impossible to overstate the importance of Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.
Scruggs passed away Wednesday morning at 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been...
Scruggs passed away Wednesday morning at 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been...
- 3/29/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
American Bluegrass legend and Grammy winner (1969) Earl Scruggs - who wrote the classic TV series The Beverly Hillbillies theme music - has died. He was 88 years-old. The North Carolina Scruggs was a pickin' genius, mastering the three-finger method dubbed the "Scruggs style," who played and toured with his band from his teens until recent years. He received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2008. Scruggs wrote and recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" with Lester Flatt and singer Jerry Scoggins. Scruggs remade his classic hit "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in 2002 featuring Steve Martin on second banjo, Paul Shaffer, Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Albert Lee and Marty Stuart.for 2001's Earl Scruggs and Friends. Have a listen:...
- 3/29/2012
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Nashville, Tenn. (AP) — Bluegrass legend and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, who helped profoundly change country music with Bill Monroe in the 1940s and later with guitarist Lester Flatt, has died. He was 88. Scruggs' son Gary said his father died of natural causes Wednesday morning at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital. Earl Scruggs was an innovator who pioneered the modern banjo sound. His use of three fingers rather than the clawhammer style elevated the banjo from a part of the rhythm section — or a comedian's prop — to a lead instrument. His string-bending and lead runs became known worldwide as...
- 3/29/2012
- by Chris Talbott (AP)
- Hitfix
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Hats are one of the standout trends from this season’s Fall/Winter Collections. They add elegance and glamour to any outfit for both men and women. Costume Designer Theadora Van Runkle’s Oscar nominated work for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, is a great example of how the simple addition of a hat can say a lot about a character.
The function of hats and other forms of headwear are not simply to cover the head and protect it from the elements. Their use has defined social and cultural identity throughout mankind’s history, and they go much further than being mere accessories or a fashion statement.
The designer's addition...
Hats are one of the standout trends from this season’s Fall/Winter Collections. They add elegance and glamour to any outfit for both men and women. Costume Designer Theadora Van Runkle’s Oscar nominated work for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, is a great example of how the simple addition of a hat can say a lot about a character.
The function of hats and other forms of headwear are not simply to cover the head and protect it from the elements. Their use has defined social and cultural identity throughout mankind’s history, and they go much further than being mere accessories or a fashion statement.
The designer's addition...
- 11/3/2011
- by Contributor
- Clothes on Film
This is the perfect time for me to cover a story about bluegrass legend Bill Monroe since I just started building my own banjo and haven't listened to much besides bluegrass in the past few weeks.
Bill Monroe is an interesting choice for a biopic since his personal life isn't particularly well known. He's best known as a pioneer of the bluegrass style and for the song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (which will probably be the title of the film, that's usually how these things go).
Now that I think about it more, it's going to provide a lot of those "meeting famous people" moments that biopics love to do. Monroe discovered so many future bluegrass stars like Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, plus his song was covered by Elvis so he'll have to be in there.
The big casting news about the movie is that Peter Sarsgaard will be taking the lead role.
Bill Monroe is an interesting choice for a biopic since his personal life isn't particularly well known. He's best known as a pioneer of the bluegrass style and for the song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (which will probably be the title of the film, that's usually how these things go).
Now that I think about it more, it's going to provide a lot of those "meeting famous people" moments that biopics love to do. Monroe discovered so many future bluegrass stars like Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, plus his song was covered by Elvis so he'll have to be in there.
The big casting news about the movie is that Peter Sarsgaard will be taking the lead role.
- 7/1/2010
- by Adam Lyon
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