Legendary banjo player Earl Scruggs died last night at the age of 88.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Earl developed a unique style of banjo picking at has become known as the Scruggs Style (i.e. a three-finger picking style vs the comment two-finger or strumming styles).
In the mid-1940s Earl joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys before starting his own band in 1948 with Lester Flatt. For the next twenty years Earl and Lester played all over the place and changed the face of mountain bluegrass music.
He will be missed…but luckily his music will continue to play thanks to recording studios and the like. 🙂
Below are a few of my favorite Earl and Lester’s songs:
“Foggy Mountain Breakdown”
“Mountain Dew”