Earl Scruggs’s 100th Birthday Celebration at the Ryman
On January 6, 2024, Earl Eugene Scruggs, the most influential and imitated banjo picker on the planet, would have turned 100 years old. To celebrate the occasion, Jerry Douglas served as musical director and assembled some of the best and brightest pickers in bluegrass for a magical three-and-a-half hour show in the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.
The tribute included ten banjoists (three women and seven men): Abigail Washburn, Jim Mills, Gena Britt, Béla Fleck, Tony Trischka, Peter Wernick, Charlie Cushman, Rob McCoury and Justin Moses, along with Alison Brown, who sported a classic Flatt & Scruggs bowtie from the headstock of her banjo. Others honoring Scruggs’s legacy included The Earls of Leicester, The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, Sierra Hull, Michael Cleveland, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Jeff Hanna, Jimmie Fadden, Jerry Pentecost, and Harry Stinson.
The night of music began with comments from the Scruggs family. First, JT Scruggs, Earl’s nephew, welcomed attendees. “You are in for a special treat tonight. Earl’s grandchildren are here: Randy’s daughter (Lindsey) and Gary’s son (Jesse).” He then reminded attendees that the event was a fundraiser for the Earl Scruggs Center located near Scruggs’s birthplace in Shelby, North Carolina.
Douglas also expressed his gratitude for the sold out event. “Thanks for showing up Nashville and North Carolina. I think the whole state is here!” Then he paid homage to the master of the five-string. “We are here to celebrate the man, Earl Scruggs, on his 100th birthday. Not one of these musicians you will see tonight on this stage would be here if it wasn’t for Earl Scruggs! I know I wouldn’t be! We couldn’t celebrate the man without acknowledging the woman beside him (Louise Scruggs) and their sons: Gary, Randy, and Steve. I think we should be thinking about Lester Flatt as well.
“A little over two years ago, when my manager said, ‘I just booked the Ryman Auditorium for Earl Scruggs’s birthday,’ I went weak in the knees. He said, ‘I want you to create a show’ so here I am. This was our chance to take back January 6 and remind the world that this is Earl Scruggs’s birthday.”
Next, Earl’s granddaughter Lindsey Scruggs shared that her grandparents met 77 years ago in the alley behind the mother church, the Ryman. “Both came from nothing, but together they forged a legacy.”
She not only praised her grandfather, but also the groundbreaking role her “Nana,” Louise Scruggs, played in a business dominated by men. “In 1955, she took on the role of Papa’s manager and booking agent, the first woman in the country music business to fill those shoes.”
Lindsey shared about Earl’s involvement with the music for the movie “Bonnie and Clyde.” “Warren Beatty called and asked to speak to Earl. (Louise said) ‘Well, you can talk to him, but you’re still going to have to deal with me.’
“Post-Flatt & Scruggs, the legacy expanded with my father, Randy, and my uncles, Gary and Steve, who brought their own expert musicianship to the Earl Scruggs Revue. Today, this legacy continues with my cousin, Chris, who in 2022 became the youngest musician ever to be inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.”
She then read an excerpt from her grandfather’s day planner from December 24, 1974. “I’d like to share with us all the importance of love, compassion, and the eternal unbroken circle. Papa Earl wrote: ‘We’re all well. We opened gifts, had lots of fun. I felt very thankful for a best year. My great wish to all is a fruitful year, good health, and may we all be together next Christmas. We are to have today, together. May God guide us all as He sees best and everything will be all right. Thank you, Father, for the health, warmth, and togetherness. Let us love all and I feel happiness will prevail as it should.’”
The evening of banjo music launched with Abigail Washburn, who clawhammered and sang a medley that included “Nobody’s Fault, But Mine” and “Little Birdie.” Tommy Goldsmith, author of Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of An American Classic, served as narrator/commentator for the festivities. “In about 1935, a young boy named Earl Scruggs came up with the new three-finger style, we call the Scruggs style and it is still played throughout the country and throughout the world. And we thank you for that! He was a brilliant, compassionate and funny man who many of us had the privilege to know.”
Echoing Douglas’s previous declaration, Goldsmith stressed, “There’s probably no one in this room who would be here had it not been for Earl Scruggs. Can I have a witness?” The audience erupted in loud applause. Two North Carolina musicians, Mills and Sutton, took the stage to play a rousing version on Scruggs’s iconic D tune, “Reuben.”
Goldsmith shared a little history. “At 21, Earl auditioned with Bill Monroe. It took only a day or so to decide he needed Scruggs’s style-busting banjo approach to complete the classic sound of what would become bluegrass music. On December 8, 1945, on this very stage, Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt for a rare first hearing of America’s new music. It was a leap into a new dimension of this music that Earl achieved with the banjo.
“I did have a thought today. There’s always been a discussion about ‘was Bill the Father of Bluegrass Music?’ I was thinking, ‘could it be more accurate to say bluegrass had two dads?’”
In a tribute to Flatt & Scruggs, Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Jim Mills and Stuart Duncan performed a Flatt & Scruggs classic, “Will You Be Loving Another Man.” “Earl Scruggs was the man that got me started back when I was 11 years old,” Del shared.
The evening featured collaborations between the artists paying homage to the banjo master. There was a succession of banjo/fiddle duos featuring various pairings of the musicians, all seeming to truly love being involved in the mission of sharing Scruggs’s musical magic. Pairs performing were: Alison Brown / Stuart Duncan (“Girl’s Breakdown”), Gena Britt / Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (“Pick Along”), Béla Fleck / Michael Cleveland (“Rutland Reel”), Charlie Cushman / Johnny Warren (“Johnny’s Girl”), Rob McCoury / Jason Carter (“Katy Hill”), Jim Mills / Sam Bush (“Stoney Point”), Pete Wernick / Justin Moses (“Louisville Breakdown”), and Tony Trischka / Michael Cleveland (“Little Rabbit”).
Following intermission, the Earls of Leicester performed iconic Flatt & Scruggs tunes. Johnny Warren sawed the fiddle and sang quartet numbers as black and white photos of the Foggy Mountain Boys loomed on-screen behind him, displaying his father, the late Paul Warren on fiddle.
As the evening progressed, musical styles ranged from traditional tunes such as “Roll on Buddy” to progressive with Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart’s “Boulder Dash” and tributes to the Earl Scruggs Revue with a rendition of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” featuring Hanna, Bush, and Douglas.
To close the evening, Cushman kicked off Earl’s famous “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” while the entire ensemble joined in. Following a standing ovation, the celebrities encored with a jam of “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.”
Douglas reflected. “It was a magical night and for me. (It) brought to the surface how much love and respect there was and still is, for the creator of the modern five-string banjo. So many versions of Earl were on stage that night and I hope it pleased Earl, who was watching us from a lofty position we all hope for. His fans brought the house down many times that night as we, his musical family, celebrated his legacy.”
Several of the evening’s banjoists weighed in. Gena Britt expressed that, “Saturday night was a surreal moment in time for me. There are so many aspects of the night that make me so emotional. The mere fact that Jerry Douglas included me in this event was beyond my wildest dreams. Then, the collaborations were just incredible. Performing with and alongside my heroes is something I will never forget. Everyone had so much fun. The smiles and encouragement backstage were endless. It was really heartwarming to see. It was an honor to play in the mother church celebrating Earl Scruggs on what would have been his 100th birthday. The camaraderie and friendships cultivated through this experience are life changing for me and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.”
Justin Moses stated, “It was one of those nights I’ll always remember and look back on fondly. So many great friends and such great music! I truly enjoyed just getting to be there, let alone be a part of it.”
In addition to those on the stage, there were plenty of musicians in attendance. One of those was the Nashville Grass’s former banjoist, 86-year-old Haskell McCormick who performed with Lester Flatt from 1970-74. He drove 50 miles to attend the tribute show. “The first time I heard Earl playing banjo I was about nine years old. He started the three-finger style. It just caught me and I had to learn. We didn’t have TV then, just radio. They (Flatt & Scruggs) had a fifteen-minute show in the mornings that I listened to. I loved it so much that I had to learn it. I still pick it. I got to meet Earl and he came to my house one time. We had a great time. I got to fill-in for Earl. When he left, Lester hired me.”
Haskell’s brother, Gerald, explained, “Haskell filled in for Earl in the 1950s when Earl had his car wreck. Haskell was a senior in high school and worked a lot of the TV shows and the Opry with Lester at that time.” Haskell smiled remembering his youth. “It was a blessing to me.”
Charlie Cushman summed it up in one sentence. “The genius of Earl Scruggs lives on!”
The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, is currently exhibiting three banjos owned and played by Earl Scruggs. In the mid-1980s the Gibson company worked with Earl Scruggs to develop an Earl Scruggs Standard model banjo, the design was based on his famous 1930 Gibson RB-Granada #9584-3. In the early 1990s, the Gibson Company expanded its line of Earl Scruggs model banjos to include his ’49 Classic and Golden Deluxe. Scruggs received the first of each model produced and played them until his death in 2012. The three banjos from Earl Scruggs’s collection on loan to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum are: 1984 Gibson Earl Scruggs Standard Banjo serial #0001, 1991 Gibson Earl Scruggs ’49 Classic Banjo, and 1991 Gibson Earl Scruggs Golden Deluxe banjo. All were owned and played by Scruggs.
