Steve Martin competes for top honours at International Bluegrass Music Awards

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091001/entertainment/us_bluegrass_awards

After playing on the Grammy Award  winning Foggy Mountain
Breakdown with Earl Scruggs, Martin began writing a
string of new banjo songs, some with lyrics and some
as instrumentals.

An album 45 years in the making, The Crow: New Songs for
the Five-String Banjo features special vocal appearances
by Mary Black, Vince Gill, Tim O'Brien, Dolly Parton and
musicians Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick and Tony Trischka.
Recorded in Dublin, Hollywood, Nashville and New Jersey
and produced by John McEuen, of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
the record consists of 15 original tracks written by Martin.
"I have loved the banjo my whole life," says Martin.
"The songs on this record represent the influence of a
dozen players and a thousand tunes, and I thank them all.
But it's the banjo itself I thank most for generating
nostalgia for experiences I never had, joy I was yet to
experience, and melancholy that was yet to come."

Download album here (it's a torrent)

(via Angela)