FLAC/Hi-Res | 826 MB | LINKS
Jerry Douglas’ next project is something of a departure for him. Typically a decidedly forward-loooking artist focused on new music, the Dobro master is turning his gaze back to the 1950s for The Earls of Leicester, a Flatt & Scruggs tribute project he has organized with a group of Nashville grassers.
This superstar collaboration, which features Tim O’Brien on mandolin, Shawn Camp on guitar, Johnny Warren on fiddle, Charlie Cushman on banjo, Barry Bales on bass, and Jerry on reso-guitar, has done only a few select live appearances since they started working on this project last year. These are established bluegrass artists who have studied the music and the mannerisms of both Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and the various side musicians who were an important part of the Flatt & Scruggs sound.
When he was learning to play as a child, Douglas was deeply and personally influenced by the slide work of Josh Graves, who had himself devised a picking style that both emulated and supported that of Earl Scruggs on the banjo. Cushman is a recognized expert on the Scruggs style, and Camp is not only a solid guitar player and singer, but also a pretty fair Lester Flatt mimic as well.
Warren is the son of Paul Warren, who played fiddle with Flatt & Scruggs from 1954 until they broke up in ’69, after which time he worked with Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass until his retirement in 1977. Add O’Brien to play mandolin and sing the Curly Seckler parts, and the always reliable Bales, who had made his own study of the early bass players in bluegrass, and you’ve got a rhythm section fit to tackle a Flatt & Scruggs tribute.