Earl Scruggs, with family and friends, played at the Ryman last week to kick off the Springer Mountain Farms Bluegrass at the Ryman concert series. He has played this series several times before, but this is the first time I’ve ever been free to go see him at the venue where he made bluegrass history when he stepped on the Grand Ole Opry stage with Bill Monroe. I hadn’t planned on going, but in the middle of teaching a lesson that afternoon it struck me—how the heck can I call myself a banjo player if I’m in town and Earl is playing and I don’t go see him? So I bought my ticket— at 5:00 that afternoon—and got a great seat in the tenth row (there are some advantages to attending concerts by oneself).
The Infamous Stringdusters opened the show, and Earl took the stage after intermission. I only had eyes for Earl, but for the sake of completeness I’ll tell you who else he had playing with him: Bryan Sutton (guitar), Jon Randall (guitar, mando), Randy Scruggs (elec. guitar), Gary Scruggs (bass), John Gardner (percussion), Hoot Hester (fiddle), and Rob Ickes (Dobro).
They kicked off the show with “Salty Dog” and it is hard not to get goose bumps of joy to think that you are sitting there listening to Earl play IN PERSON! (I’ve included a complete set list below.) Alas Earl seemed to have a bit of a cold and kept wiping his nose, and he was playing quite far back from his microphone, requiring the sound folks to really run it hot. But those are trivial details compared to the excitement of seeing the man in person.
The one staggering surprise of the night was hearing Earl kick off the Beatles song “Lady Madonna.” He played the first half of the break solo and I kept thinking, “This can’t be what it sounds like!” But sure enough it was. Gary sang it, apparently reading some of the words off a piece of paper at his feet. It would have been nice for him to actually learn the words before the show, but it was still a strange thrill to hear Earl play the Beatles.
When introducing Earl, emcee and WSM radio announcer Eddie Stubbs proclaimed him, “One of the most important instrumentalists in the history of the music of the world.” You’ll get no argument from me!
Set List:
Salty Dog
Borrowed Love
Earl’s Breakdown
John Hardy
Ridin’ Me High
Soldiers Joy (in C)
Streamline Cannonball
Doin’ My Time
Someday We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart
Dim Lights Thick Smoke
Sally Goodwin
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms
In The Pines
Lady Madonna
Foggy Mountain Rock
You Are My Flower
Paul and Silas
Black Mountain Blues
Ballad of Jed Clampett
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Reuben (encore)
I’m sure that was a great show. I wanted to be there, but I was at Bean Blossom. The highlight of the week there was to hear the Bluegrass Kid Campers play after a week of instruction. One of the more advanced banjo students played a break on the tune “The Gold Rush”. I’m sure he didn’t learn it at camp (in 4 days) because it sounded exactly like the one on the Murphy’s Advanced Banjo Video. I know – because I’m learning the same song from the same video. I bet Earl would have played it the same way at the Ryman.
Casey,
Glad to hear you were at the concert too. Yes, now you are a MUCH better teacher for seeing Earl at the Ryman!
When they kicked off with Salty Dog Blues, that MUST have been a little like being at Carnagie Hall in 1962 when they started that show with the same song!
Bruce Pierce
Same here, no argument from me! I’m just in total agreement. (Sorry for being so late in saying so.)
Casey, thank you for sharing your experiance at the Ryman with Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin and all the other great musicians! Sure would of liked to have been there! Will they be making a c/d of their preformance I wonder?
Thanks again!
george
There’s already a CD of Earl live at the Ryman, recorded at the 2007 concert I believe. It has pretty much the same songs on it and everything.
Casey