Description
Writer, comedian and longtime banjo ace Steve Martin has been especially active on the musical front in recent years, issuing a couple of highly acclaimed bluegrass efforts both on his own and with the Steep Canyon Rangers. He also forged a fruitful partnership with singer-songwriter Edie Brickell (singer-songwriter who initially burst onto the national scene as New Bohemians front-woman), which debuted on 2013s Love Has Come for You.
On October 30th the same month that Martin receives a Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association the Grammy-winning duo issues its follow-up, So Familiar. The record was inspired in part by the pairs collaborative musical, Bright Star, which debuted in San Diego last year and opens at the Kennedy Center in D.C. in December.
The songs on So Familiar benefit from multi award-winning artist and producer Peter Asher, who contributes expansive arrangements, making imaginative use of a wide array of acoustic and orchestral instrumentation, lending a cinematic quality to the songs intimate character studies.
So Familiar also features a variety of prominent players from the worlds of bluegrass, folk, pop and rock, including seminal banjo ace Béla Fleck along with session bass legend Leland Sklar, Cobra Starships Victoria Asher, Mike Einziger of Incubus, Emmy-award winning composer/arranger Geoff Zanelli, and Martins much-acclaimed longtime bluegrass cohorts the Steep Canyon Rangers. Rolling Stone professes the first single, Wont Go Back, retains the rootsy feel of Martin and Brickells earlier collaborations but adds a new full-band folk-rock feel and even a thumping electronica bridge.
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