The cover says it all - The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo (2009) is just as advertised. And of course its somewhat tongue and cheek as it’s Steve Martin, probably the greatest comedic innovator of the last 50 years (tied with Richard Pryor), but the album is truly and wonderfully musical and just as it elucidates quite clearly in it’s title, it’s bluegrass and there is a lot of banjo playing going on. But it is so much more than just that; it is a funny, but often extremely comprehensive study in bluegrass perfectionist styling—Martin himself is a master of the clawhammer style of banjo playing, a skill that eludes even the most proficient players of the instrument, and it is his skillset but also his background that gives The Crow a strange sort of credence and affect that far supersedes his past as a comedian, though at the same time it draws it in even closer. It is a tradition passed down from performer to performer, generation to generation that has since become lost, but Martin finds it here; by simply and effectively creating a musical apparatus in which to communicate a soul that goes beyond just the typical pratfalls and innuendo that comedy entails, he presents the listener with a very modern take on an extremely traditional genre. Guests such as Dolly Parton, Mary Black, Earl Scruggs and many others only lend an even greater air of authenticity to The Crow and Martin ceases to be simply the funny man, but rather, he is a rallying point of confident and joyous music. The Crow is a anachronism, even for Martin who is a traditionalist at heart, but it works just as potently now as it would’ve back in the heyday of country music and bluegrass—Martin is just as serious about his music as he is with his comedy.
Listen to “Late for School” and Steve Martin & Earl Scruggs “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (Non-album track) (Live on The Late Show with David Letterman)
Download “The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo“
