The live concert album from The Earls of Leicester on Rounder has been a big hit since it was released last year. Captured for both audio and video during a two-night stint at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Hame & Museum in February of 2018, it perfectly represents why this group of veteran grassers have been so popular with their stage performances everywhere they go.
The band, which is a tribute to Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys, was the brainchild of Jerry Douglas, who grew up devouring the original Flatt & Scruggs record to learn the licks being played by his idol, Josh Graves, on the dobro. Jerry figured he could put together a band made up of Nashville professionals who could play Laster and Earl’s music the way it ought to be done, and from the first few times they appeared on stage, demand for live shows has been more than they could handle.
Jerry, of course, plays the reso-guitar, with Charlie Cushman on banjo doing the Earl Scruggs role, and Shawn Camp on guitar tackling Lester Flatt. Johnny Warren, son of Foggy Mountain Boys fiddler Paul Warren, takes on his dad’s part, with Barry Bales on bass, and Jeff White on mandolin and tenor vocals. It’s a bit eerie how much they sound like the real thing, and with precious few folks left alive who remember seeing Flatt & Scruggs live, their show – which goes out for several weeks a couple of times each year – has produced sold out venues all over the country.
The record, Live At The CMA Theater, is available on CD, vinyl, and download, and today they have released the video through VEVO for online enjoyment.
It’s pure joy to watch these guys at work in the hour-long video, along with brief interviews interspersed among the many songs. And a fine way to introduce the music of Flatt & Scruggs to a new generation of music lovers.
Well done, boys.
