Sam Bush, Del McCoury, and many others paid tribute to Earl Scruggs on what would have been his 100th birthday at a show curated by Jerry Douglas at the Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 6. (Photo by Eric Ahlgrim / Courtesy of the Ryman Auditorium)
Two years ago, Jerry Douglas’ manager Brian Penix told him, “I’ve booked the Ryman Auditorium for Earl Scruggs’ 100th birthday. I want you to create a show.” No setting could have been better suited for the celebration of Scruggs’ centennial this year. The star-studded show that resulted in Nashville on Saturday was evidence not only of Douglas’ planning and reverence for Scruggs’ impact on the music world, but the magic that occurs when dozens of high-caliber performers come together for a common purpose.
Nashville music historian and Scruggs biographer Tommy Goldsmith emceed, the first — but certainly not the last that night — to suggest that “No one in this room would be here without Earl Scruggs.” Throughout the night, between sets, Goldsmith provided highlights of Scruggs’ career, beginning with his introduction to Bill Monroe, whom he first joined on the Ryman stage on Dec. 8, 1945, and spanning the arc of his career, including his groundbreaking work with Flatt and Scruggs and his renown beyond bluegrass with “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (heard by many in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde) and the theme from TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. Even those familiar with Scruggs’ role in the birth of what became known as bluegrass were reminded of his huge impact on American music in general.
Earl’s nephew J.T. Scruggs welcomed the audience, reminding them of the purpose of the show — to benefit the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina. This elicited cheers from North Carolinians in the audience, many of whom had come into town on chartered buses to attend the show.
Earl’s granddaughter Lindsey Scruggs shared some history of his courtship with her grandmother Louise, who made history as Flatt and Scruggs’ booking agent in 1955, one of the first women in that role in country music. “Both came from nothing,” Lindsey said, “but together they formed a legend.” She described the family lore of actor Warren Beatty’s call, asking to speak to Earl about using “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” in Bonnie and Clyde. Louise said, “You can talk to him, but you’re still going to have to deal with me.”
At the Ryman on Saturday, the stage opened with a backdrop of the Grand Ole Opry set to honor a man who made such history there. Reminiscent of the early days of the Opry, musicians sat in pews onstage during performances when they weren’t playing.
Abigail Washburn performs at a tribute to Earl Scruggs at the Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 6. (Photo by Eric Ahlgrim / Courtesy of the Ryman Auditorium)
Abigail Washburn opened the musical portion of the show with a haunting rendition of “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” shifting to “Little Birdie.”
The evening’s music had a loose chronological structure following the evolution of Scruggs’ musical career. Alluding to music Scruggs’ neighbors might have heard in his early years just outside Shelby, Jim Mills, accompanied by Bryan Sutton on guitar, played “Reuben,” the song on which Scruggs first developed his signature three-finger style when he was around 10 years old.
Throughout the evening, iconic musicians rotated without a hitch on and off stage or back to the pews. Del McCoury was joined by members of The Travelin’ McCourys with Sam Bush on mandolin and vocals, performing classics from Scruggs’ days with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys such as “Will You Be Loving Another Man?” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” and “Goodbye, Old Pal.”
Also rotating in and out during this set were Stuart Duncan and Jason Carter on fiddle; Rob McCoury, Alison Brown, Gena Britt on banjo; Sutton; and host Douglas on dobro. They performed standards including “Little Maggie,” “Molly and Tenbrooks (The Race Horse Song),” and “Heavy Traffic Ahead,” the instrumentalists alternating breaks as if they had rehearsed for weeks rather than days.
The dynamics attested to collaborative nature of bluegrass. Many of the performers had played with Scruggs (who died in 2012), learned from him, or shared a festival stage. Goldsmith reminded the audience, “This music is not easy to play. It’s fiendishly difficult, especially to play with expression as Earl did.”
Sam Bush, left, and Del McCoury perform at a tribute to Earl Scruggs at the Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 6. (Photo by Eric Ahlgrim / Courtesy of the Ryman Auditorium)
Influential banjoist Tony Trischka introduced the next set, inspired by recordings of Scruggs jamming with John Hartford that form the basis of an album recreating those songs Trischka is releasing later this year. He began with a simple banjo rendition of “Shout Little Lulu,” a song Scruggs played solo for square dances as a boy. Trischka was joined onstage by fiddler Michael Cleveland, who also plays on the upcoming album, with Del and Ronnie McCoury picking and singing on “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” Alan Bartram on bass, and Jason Carter joining Cleveland on twin fiddles.
A highlight of the night was a series of duets, reminiscent of the days when a pair of instruments served as a dance band. A string of fiddle and banjo pairings alternated playing old-time dance tunes: Jason Carter and Rob McCoury, Sam Bush and Jim Mills, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and Gena Britt, Charlie Cushman and Justin Moses, Stuart Duncan and Alison Brown, and and Michael Cleveland and Béla Fleck. Throughout the Ryman, feet tapping on the wood floors kept rhythm as they played.
After intermission, the focus shifted to The Earls of Leicester, an award-winning band Douglas formed in 2013 to play only the music of Flatt and Scruggs from 1954 to 1960. Dressed in traditional black suits, white shirts, and string ties, with Shawn Camp singing lead, they performed familiar tunes such as “Long Journey Home,” “Down the Road,” and their gospel contribution, “Let the Church Roll On.” They remarked on the timeliness of “One Hundred Years from Now,” then followed it with bluegrass and country classics “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down,” “Salty Dog Blues,” and “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke.”
Bryan Sutton, left, and Jim Mills perform at a tribute to Earl Scruggs at the Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 6. (Photo by Eric Ahlgrim / Courtesy of the Ryman Auditorium)
Goldsmith recalled Scruggs’ decision to branch out musically, resulting in the split from Lester Flatt in 1969, and his desire to spend more time with his family. With his sons, Scruggs formed the Earl Scruggs Revue that year. They went on to play with folk icons like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and The Byrds. Celebrating that expansive period in Scruggs’ career, Fleck was joined by Sutton, Hull, Moses, Cleveland, and more to perform “My Bluegrass Heart,” a blend of bluegrass and world music from Fleck’s 2021 album of the same name (ND review).
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band members Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden shared the experience of recording the iconic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album, which featured Scruggs among the generation-bridging list of players (ND story). The enlarging group on stage performed “You Are My Flower,” “T for Texas,” and “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” with Harry Stinson and Jerry Pentecost joining on drums. With multiples on each instrument, the performances resembled what Goldsmith called “bluegrass choreography,” one musician after another taking solos on “Sitting on Top of the World” and “Nashville Blues.”
Before the grand finale, as a birthday cake was brought out, Douglas commented on the challenge of putting together a show of this magnitude. “This was easy,” he said. “These are my friends. These are Earl’s friends.”
All those friends closed out the show with the songs that made Scruggs famous far beyond bluegrass — “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” — making the evening complete.
