NASHVILLE,
TN (Country
Music Hall of Fame and Museum ) -
Almost by definition, a
museum's exhibits document the past. Yet when the Country
Music Hall of
Fame and Museum's cameo exhibit, Banjo Man: The Musical
Journey Of Earl
Scruggs opens on March 4 (remaining open through June 2006), it will
celebrate not only the immense accomplishments of the world's greatest
banjo player, but it will also spotlight a career that continues to
this day. For, while the musical revolution he began more than 60 years
ago would have earned him the distinction on its own, Earl Scruggs has
given the world much more.
While visitors to the Country Music
Hall of Fame and Museum are exploring Banjo Man's summation of his
career, Earl Scruggs himself will be carrying on, appearing this year
at the trifecta of youthful roots music celebrations�North Carolina's
Merlefest (April 30), Tennessee's Bonnaroo
Music Festival (weekend of
June 10) and Colorado's Telluride Bluegrass Festival (June 19) �sharing
the stage, as he has for more than 40 years, with a dazzling array of
younger artists, virtually all of whom recognize his unique stature as
a musical visionary�a stature so great that when pop-rock singer
Melissa Etheridge was asked by a
Boston reporter why she participated
in Earl Scruggs And Friends, she replied simply, "because he's Earl
Scruggs, that's why.'"
From the banjo on which he first
developed the techniques that would lay the groundwork for the creation
of bluegrass�and give the instrument a hitherto undreamed-of musical
flexibility�to the 2001 Grammy statuette he won for a new recording of
his most famous composition, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," Banjo Man: The
Musical
Journey Of Earl Scruggs tells its story with a remarkable
collection of memorabilia, artifacts and audio-visual displays.
Historic
posters, original album cover art, songbooks, business materials and
excerpts from Martha White-sponsored TV shows cover the legendary
partnership of Scruggs with Lester Flatt, which earned the duo entry
into the Country
Music Hall of Fame 20 years ago. But Banjo Man goes
beyond the Flatt & Scruggs years, using video footage, instruments
and posters --even an elaborate stage outfit created by
Louise Scruggs
for one of her sons -- to explore the forward-looking country-rock
fusion created by Earl and his sons in the Earl Scruggs Revue and to
consider Scruggs' subsequent work as a solo artist and leader of
today's Earl Scruggs Family And
Friends Band.
The exhibit breaks
new ground, too, by examining the indispensible contributions of Louise
Scruggs to the careers of her husband and sons. A pioneer in booking
and artist management,
Louise Scruggs was in the vanguard of the
professionalization of Nashville's music business in the 1950s and
1960s, and played a critical role in helping to bring the music of
Flatt & Scruggs and the Earl Scruggs Revue to audiences well beyond
the bluegrass and country mainstream�a role she continues to fill to
this day. From the toy typewriter she played with as a child through
business correspondence from the Flatt & Scruggs years, the exhibit
sheds new light on a significant partnership between lifelong
companions.
Complementing the Banjo Man exhibit, the Country
Music Hall of Fame and Museum will present a full schedule of
interviews, film screenings, concerts, and panel discussions, and plans
are in the works to release on DVD a selection of vintage Flatt &
Scruggs Martha White TV shows. Taken together, the elements of the
Musuem's tribute make for a compelling, absorbing portrait of one of
America's great artists and his musical family.
Upcoming events include:
Saturday, March 5 1:00 p.m. Family Program
Banjo for Kids with Pam Gadd
Children
and their parents get to know the rudiments of the banjo, including the
parts of the instrument; basic picking and fretting techniques; and
beginning banjo repertoire. Ages 5 and up. Banjos provided by Gibson
Guitar Corp. $5.00 per child (free for Museum members) with up to two
accompanying adults admitted free.
Saturday, March 5 2:00 p.m. Q&A Session
Earl Scruggs and Family Q&A Session
In
celebration of the opening of the Museum's Banjo Man exhibit, Earl
Scruggs, his wife Louise, and sons Gary and Randy talk about their
musical family in a Q&A Session led by 650 WSM-AM's Eddie Stubbs.
Free.
Saturday, March 5 4:00 p.m. Performance
Country and
bluegrass band The Grascals celebrate the musical legacy of Earl
Scruggs with classic songs from his career and material from their own
self-titled debut album. The Grascals have toured and recorded as Dolly
Parton's band for the past year. Individual members have toured and
recorded with artists like Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, the Osborne
Brothers, and Uncle Josh Graves. Free.
Saturday, April 16 2:00 p.m.Interview Session
Louise Scruggs:
Music Management Pioneer
Louise
Scruggs and D.J. McLachlan (Earl's representative for nearly 30 years)
discuss Mrs. Scruggs's role as a pioneering woman in the music
business, guiding the career of her husband and his bands, Flatt &
Scruggs, The Earl Scruggs Revue, and the Family and
Friends Band.
