Steve Martin Teams With Steep Canyon Rangers In Bay Area
By Sterling Munksgard Aug 25, 2015 • 8:30 am PDT
Images and Words by: Sterling Munksgard
Check out Sterling’s recap after his photos.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”123″ gal_title=”20150819 and 20150820 Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers in Bay Area”]Recent American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame inductee Steve Martin, who may be best known for his starring roles in feature films such as The Jerk, Three Amigos and Roxanne, joined the Steep Canyon Rangers for a pair of shows in the Bay Area last week.
On August 19 Martin and the band played Wente Vineyards in Livermore. The venue features a picturesque outdoor stage surrounded by vineyards in the midst of harvest season. The next evening they played Weill Hall – Green Music Center at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, a venue with a back wall that was fully opened to the terraced lawn. Patrons on the lawn were then able to see the band inside the Weill Hall on stage and also on jumbo screens. Witnessing a concert at Weill Hall’s Green Music Center is definitely a unique live music experience.
Martin, who just turned 70, mentioned at the shows that he has been playing banjo for over 50 years. The Oscar winner was ranked in 2004 by Comedy Central as the sixth greatest stand up comedian, in a list of top 100. During the show Martin mixed banjo licks with comedy for a toe tapping and gut-busting evening. The Grammy winning Steep Canyon Rangers traded stage time with Martin to play a few of their new tunes from their upcoming album titled Radio, which comes out on August 28. Together Martin and the Rangers performed songs off the 2009 album The Crow and the 2011 album Rare Bird Alert.
The Steep Canyon Rangers continue their tour along the East Coast and will meet up again with Martin in October at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, where they will be joined by the National Symphony Orchestra. Head to the band’s website to order Radio.
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