Bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs has passed away due to natural causes at the age of 88.
Born in North Carolina, Earl Scruggs came of age in a musical melting pot. Styles from across Europe – Scottish reels, English ballads, Irish jigs – were sluiced together, evolving into something new.
Learning the banjo at a young age, Earl Scruggs helped to fuse these influences in a new way. Joining Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, the musician would leave his stamp on American culture forever.
Changing the way the banjo was approached, Earl Scruggs’ sound became a central tenet of bluegrass. Writing, recording and performing for more than fifty years his influence has become especially tangible across the past decade.
Cited by alt country dons and mainstream success stories, Earl Scruggs last released a studio album in 2007.
Enduring ill health across the past few years, son Gary announced yesterday (March 28th) that Earl Scruggs had passed away due to natural causes.
Hollywood actor – and banjo player – Steve Martin paid tribute to Earl Scruggs in the New Yorker. “When the singer came to the end of a phrase, he filled the theatre with sparkling runs of notes that became a signature for all bluegrass music since,” he said.
“A grand part of American music owes a debt to Earl Scruggs. Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, and Jimi Hendrix.”
Here’s ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’.
