Monsters of Bluegrass; Steve Martin & Summer Fest

Tue, 06/21/2011 - 1:22pm by KristinL

This weekend is the annual Ann Arbor Summer Festival, a festival of events ranging from music, dance, comedy, film and much more. One of the main acts at Summer Fest is comedian Steve Martin performing with the bluegrass band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, on Saturday evening at 8 PM. As you may know from from his auto-biography, "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life", Steve Martin has been an accomplished banjo player for over 40 years and an acclaimed bluegrass performer.

Though considered a traditional form of American folk music, Bluegrass as a genre is becoming more popular in recent years thanks to popular movies like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and bluegrass events like the Los Angeles Bluegrass Situation put on by writer and comedian Ed Helms. Over the years various Bluegrass bands have mixed their sounds with Blues, Country, Honky Tonk and electronic instruments but performers like Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers play more contemporary Bluegrass music with traditional roots.

If you're interested in listening to some Bluegrass similar to Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, check out:

• The Grascals
• The Infamous Stringdusters
• Mountain Heart
• NewFound Road