This is just a very quick post to let you know Earl Scruggs has died.
The legendary banjo picker, who created and defined Scruggs’ Style banjo playing, died this morning in Nashville, at the age of 88.
I saw Scruggs play with his family band at a festival in Florida a few years back, and he was still rocking that banjo well into his 80s. From his days with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys to his collaboration with Lester Flatt, and beyond, Earl was a benchmark artist of the bluegrass revolution – making a case for three-finger banjo picking in world of clawhammer players.
There are few artists in the world who become known and loved for their work in their lifetime, and even fewer of whom it can be said they redefined their craft.
Earl Scruggs managed both and, in the process, influenced and inspired generations of not only banjo pickers, but instrumentalists in general. He will be missed.
Check out the Tennesseean for their more detailed obit.
