We have wondered several times on Bluegrass Today whether it shouldn’t be a requirement that every artist in any field of music had to make a bluegrass record before they could be voted into their respective Hall of Fame.
It seems to be a very popular thing to do, and it’s a trend we hope to see continue. We’ll have an interview tomorrow with Steve Martin on his Rare Bird Alert CD, and will have more details shortly on the grassy roots album that Styx rocker Tommy Shaw is releasing on March 22.
We also spoke quite highly last year of Dierks Bentley’s Up On The Ridge CD, and voiced a hope that his collaboration with Chris Thile and Punch Brothers would bring attention to the band in new venues.
And it looks like the word is getting out. In a February Rolling Stone interview, Sir Elton John responded thusly to a question about what he was listening to these days:
“We played with a band on T Bone’s revue, the Punch Brothers, and I want to make a record with them. They’re astonishing, the best jam band I’ve ever seen. It’s [expletive deleted] brilliant. Jon Brion’s production is incredible. They, for me, are the exciting new thing. That’s where I want to go.”
No comment yet from the Brothers, though their label (Nonesuch Records) informs us that there are no current plans for a collaboration.
