Legendary banjo picker Earl Scruggs passed away on Wednesday in Nashville. He was 88. Here is a really nice article from the Tennessean newspaper worth reading.
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/...s-country-music-hall-of-famer-dies-at-age-88/
The funeral will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium, a fitting place, since it was on that very stage in 1945 that Bluegrass music was first broadcast to the world, with Earl Scruggs playing with Bill Monroe as a part of his band, the Bluegrass Boys.
Earl Scruggs was the man responsible for making the banjo a lead instrument. Before it had been played as a rhythm instrument, and for comedy. It is his distinctive style that you hear on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and, of course, the theme to "The Beverly Hillbillies." He also played with folk and contemporary artists, and was very well-respected by his peers.
WSM is likely to broadcast the funeral, as they did that of Chet Atkins and Porter Waggoner. I will let you know if they make it official. But either way, there will be tributes at the Opry this weekend, which can be heard on WSM on my link below, or on Sirius. Check it out.
Paul
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/...s-country-music-hall-of-famer-dies-at-age-88/
The funeral will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium, a fitting place, since it was on that very stage in 1945 that Bluegrass music was first broadcast to the world, with Earl Scruggs playing with Bill Monroe as a part of his band, the Bluegrass Boys.
Earl Scruggs was the man responsible for making the banjo a lead instrument. Before it had been played as a rhythm instrument, and for comedy. It is his distinctive style that you hear on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and, of course, the theme to "The Beverly Hillbillies." He also played with folk and contemporary artists, and was very well-respected by his peers.
WSM is likely to broadcast the funeral, as they did that of Chet Atkins and Porter Waggoner. I will let you know if they make it official. But either way, there will be tributes at the Opry this weekend, which can be heard on WSM on my link below, or on Sirius. Check it out.
Paul
