: The Crow - Steve Martin

New Songs for the 5-String Banjo is the first full-length bluegrass album from actor/comedian/musician Steve Martin. 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 forty-five years in the making, The Crow features special appearances by Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Mary Black, Tim O'Brien, 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 album consists of fifteen 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."

"Steve shows the same skill at crafting a story within the lyric of a song as he does with a novel or comedic script," according to producer John McEuen. "People will be pleasantly shocked at how vast and varied this music is. This album will show Steve as a composer of unique melodies, hot licks and soulful lyrics. He is definitely a songwriter with an unusual twist for notes and lyrics."

The Crow comes packaged with a 24-page booklet, featuring Steve's writing on the role the banjo has played in his life, along with his inspiration for each song that appears on the album."