Steve Martin evolves into a wild, crazy picker
By CHAD BERNDTSON
-
GateHouse News Service
Steve Martin is less known for playing with Earl Scruggs on a 2001 remake of Flatt & Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” than he is for, say, “King Tut,” but that isn’t a slight.
He’s been playing banjo for 45 years, but really, what hasn’t Martin had a hand in during a remarkable career in stand-up comedy, novels, plays and movies that keeps opening more doors for him?
Martin released an album, “The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo” last January, and he’ll be appearing at the xxx Thursday to perform with North Carolina bluegrass fivesome Steep Canyon Rangers.
Martin talked about banjo and blending his musical and comedic personas during a recent conference call with reporters.
On switching to music from other career pursuits:
“You know, I just – I got done with stand-up. You sort of get fried on it. And – but how I got into music was, you know, I’d been playing these songs my whole life and in the last five years I wrote another 10 songs. And I’m a guy who likes to see things in a slot on a shelf, so – meaning, I wanted to sort of get these songs done and polished, and finished, so you could say well, I did that.”
On building confidence as a live musician:
“The first shows I did, I’m just sitting there, just staring at the neck. And, but now I’m much more relaxed and I feel more confident. And playing on TV was another challenge, too, because I wasn’t playing to back myself up. I was playing for real. And so that was something to overcome. But now I’m actually feeling good.”
On music shows with a bit of comedy, instead of vice-versa:
“People seem happy and they know it’s a music show. And then I can get away with doing some jokes. If they thought it was a comedy show and I played nine banjo songs they might be upset.”
On the perception of celebrities being ‘serious’ musicians:
“What they (some celebrities with moonlighting music careers) really want to be is a rock star rather than a rock musician. And I think that the difference here is I really just want to play my songs. There’s an appearance difference when they get onstage because they try to look like rock musicians, you know, or rock stars, rather than just being true to their own personality. There probably is a prejudice against celebrities doing music if they didn’t come up that way. But I have not found it, and luckily for me in this case."
On whether he thought about making a run at being a serious musician earlier in his career:
“I might’ve thought about it, but I was already kind of established as a stand-up act. So I couldn’t really give that up to go join a band. And so the answer is no, I didn’t really, although I tried to be as good as I could because when I’d open for the Dirt Band I’d come out and play a couple of songs with them.”
On integrating music in his earlier comedy acts:
“When I started doing comedy I didn’t really have enough time so I just put in everything I know. I did magic tricks. I juggled and I played a few songs on the banjo. And that’s how it all got started. And basically the act never changed. It just got bigger.”
Steve Martin - An Evening of Bluegrass & Banjo
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago
Tickets: $39.50-$77
Information: 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com
