Sure, Earl’s up for IBMA’s banjo honor
Category: IBMA Nominees
By Dan Tackett
September 26, 2008
Lizzie Long and Friends & Earl Scruggs at Bean Blossom 2008
Get in a conversation with a bunch of bluegrass fanatics, and all one has to utter is the name, Earl. No one will even think about responding,”Earl who?” It’s Scruggs, of course, regarded as the granddaddy of modern bluegrass banjo. Earl Scrugg is still pickin’ — and he’s one of the finalists in line to earn the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Banjo Player of the Year in October.
To recap his career to a bluegrass audience seems senseless, but for the uninitiated, Scruggs came on the national bluegrass scene with guitar player Lester Flatt when they joined Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys in late 1945. His syncopated, three-fingered style of playing — then nearly unheard — quickly became the genre’s standard style.
He was half of the famous duo, Flatt & Scruggs, which broke up in 1969. After that, he joined his sons in a country rock group, the Earl Scruggs Revue.
Awards keep piling up for this pioneer. In February, Scruggs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Website: http://www.earlscruggs.com/
Discography:
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Anniversary | Beat Goes On |
| 2005 | Anniversary Special, Vols. 1-2 | Gott Discs |
| 2003 | Three Pickers | Rounder |
| 2001 | Earl Scruggs and Friends | MCA |
| 1984 | Superjammin’ | CBS |
| 1983 | Top of the World | CBS |
| 1982 | Flatt & Scruggs | CBS |
| 1982 | Storyteller & the Banjo Man | CBS |
| 1979 | Today & Forever | CBS |
| 1978 | Bold & New | CBS |
| 1977 | Live from Austin City Limits | CBS |
| 1977 | Strike Anywhere | CBS |
| 1976 | Family Portrait | CBS |
| 1976 | The Earl Scruggs Revue 2 | CBS |
| 1973 | Dueling Banjos | Columbia |
| 1973 | Rockin’ ‘Cross the Country | CBS |
| 1973 | The Earl Scruggs Revue | CBS |
| 1972 | Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends | Columbia |
| 1972 | I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends | Sony |
| 1972 | Live at Kansas State | Columbia |
| 1970 | Nashville Airplane | CBS |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Organization | Award | Presented To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Grammy® | Best Country Instrumental Performance | “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” |
| 1998 | Grammy® | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals | “Same Old Train” |
Read about all the 2008 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year Nominees
Who’s going to win the 2008 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year? Vote for your Favorite below!
