Music Box: One wild and crazy banjo picker

By Aaron DavisJackson Hole, Wyo.-Steve Martin is one rare individual. He’s determined, prolific. One tends to expect a laugh around every corner from him, but the off-camera, off-stage Martin is one of sheer focus.Put aside his human cannonball, magic, 40-plus movies and hundreds of TV shows that earned him Emmy, Grammy and American Comedy Awards. These days, Martin’s passion is steered towards pickin’ banjo and writing bluegrass tunes, composing banjo scores for movies and just recently, Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers performed at the White House and on the Capitol lawn for Independence Day festivities.Martin’s lifelong fascination with the banjo began in the 60s.“I was a teenager in Orange County, Calif. and there was a folk music craze led by the Kingston Trio that was sweeping America and the banjo was a part of that craze. I heard it and I just loved it,” Martin said. “There are a lot of folk music groups that eventually led me to bluegrass music, to hear Earl Scruggs play and other great three-finger banjo players, and I started buying any banjo record I could get my hands on.”As you can imagine, it has been a tough road for the famous comedian to get taken seriously as a musician, much less within a highly technical instrumental genre like bluegrass. Especially with the release of his new album, Rare Bird Alert, Martin has worked hard to find a balance between humor and musicianship. Songs like “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs” are mixed with hard-driving instrumentals like “The Great Remember.”“I wanted people who bought the record to know that the show we do is not a comedian who goes out, turns his back on the audience, and plays 20 songs in a row, and then says goodnight,” Martin said. “I wanted them to know that there was a show involved, that there was humor and it was fun, and we also are serious musicians.”Martin’s connection to The Steep Canyon Rangers was sparked through his wife, Anne, and her relationship with the band in Brevard, North Carolina where her family has long vacationed. The Martins had the entire band over for dinner and beers one night, picking songs on the porch. When it came time to tour in support of his first album, The Crow, Martin enlisted the Rangers. It had been 30 years since Martin had toured.“I enjoyed once again something I had once grown to loathe: The road,” Martin wrote in the liner notes of Rare Bird Alert. “Touring can be disheartening, but the last time I did it, I was alone doing standup; this time I had company and music. Also, sleeping at the Four Seasons instead of the Motel Six isn’t bad either.”From studying banjo with Pete Seeger and Earl Scruggs instructional books to having the No. 1 album on the bluegrass charts, Martin continues to showcase the genre to entirely new audiences. Even Paul McCartney and The Dixie Chicks sing on Martin-penned tunes on the new album, which is produced by virtuosic banjoist, Tony Trischka.Martin fans have become bluegrass fans, and bluegrass connoisseurs have accepted Martin for what he is: a fine musician with performance flare.Steve Martin: An Evening of Bluegrass and Banjo, 8 p.m., Sunday, Center Theater. Sold out. JHCenterForTheArts.org.This piece appears in Jackson Hole Weekly - JHWeekly.com