Tonight I happened to be up watching David Letterman, and they featured a band called Men with Banjos, featuring Steve Martin and Earl Scruggs. It was five guys picking their asses off with Paul trying to keep up, and it was cool.
Letterman tried to flirt with Steve Martin, but he was so authentic that he was like, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m really just here to play banjo, and the real star here is Pete Wernick,” without saying or doing anything.
I was moved.
Oh, by the way… you know how Willie Nelson’s old guitar has a hole in it that he’s actually worn through the body over the soundhole with his pick??? Well, Steve Martin’s banjo has big black streaks above and below the stings that tell me that he has loved his instrument often and well. The man plays that thing.