I popped my Bonnaroo cherry by arriving a day and a half late, being crammed into Camp Katinka—the campsite furthest from all Bonnaroo festivities—and completely missed The Gossip, She and Him, and Tori Amos. My struggles were rewarded, however, with the ultimate consolation prize: Steve Martin and his fabulous four-piece bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. I must admit that I didn’t go to hear him perform for the music; I went to feed my obsession. He was actually quite capable for someone who has been primarily recognized as an actor/comedian since the early 1970’s, so I was pleasantly surprised to listen to some truly entertaining bluegrass.
The majority of the songs performed came from Martin’s Grammy-winning album, “The Crow,” including, “Wally On The Run,” “Pitkin County Turnaround,” and, “Hoedown At Alice’s.” Martin plucked the banjo, an upright bassist served as the rhythm section, and two others played acoustic guitar and mandolin. It was a relief to see that Martin’s supporting instrumentalists equally contributed to the band’s success, and they even performed without Steve Martin a few times, wooing audience members with an acapella, barbershop quartet-style number. With my limited interest in dosie-do’ing music, my observations of these “standard” bluegrass tunes were mainly that there was lots of clapping on 1 and 3, rapid banjo picking from Steve, and frequent fiddle solos. The standouts were less bluegrassy in nature, and hinted at some varied, but (unfortunately) unknown folk, blues, and old soul/RnB influences. The standouts also included some “novelty songs,” from Martin’s SNL days, including, “King Tut,” (the audience fav), which was originally performed by Steve Martin & The Toot Uncommons. (I liked this song especially, because it reminded me of the singer from the B52’s—you know, the way the guy speaks all of his lyrics as if he’s talking right in your face).
Audience members expecting some comedic relief in addition to an upbeat, cheerful set of bluegrass songs were certainly not disappointed, and as if the performance wasn’t already enough of a giggle fest, Jack Black showed up backstage after finishing his Tenacious D set, sweating profusely, but with an admiring and determined gleam in his eye. Apparently he and Steve Martin have been collaborating on a film called, “Birdwatching,” although I have yet to verify whether or not Martin was just making things up onstage. That’s probably the case. Regardless, it was funny. –Erin Manning