Earl Scruggs who passed on earlier this year was the inventor of the banjo playing style that is favored by most modern pickers. Along with Lester Flatt he played bluegrass music and inspired many others including protege Bela Fleck and many other singers and pickers including Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Vassar Clements (all featured here). I was fortunate enough to see Flatt and Scruggs as the opening act for a very young Arlo Guthrie and they were consummate pros who only referred to politics as the butt of an occasional corny joke. (Ah for the simpler old days! Arlo told a great story about a multi-colored rainbow roach, but I digress.) With this year also taking Doug Dillard and Doc Watson from us, the whole bluegrass world is a bit bluer.
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