Steve Martin: The Crow

STEVE MARTIN SET TO RELEASE FIRST BLUEGRASS BANJO CDWe’ve already told you about Steve Martin’s upcoming CD, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo. Now we’ve learned that the CD is set for a January 27, 2009 release, exclusively on Amazon.com for the first 90 days. It is currently available for pre-order.

The CD contains 14 originals written by Martin, as well as a Clawhammer Medley. The recording features a number of big names in the entertainment world.

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 45 years in the making, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo features special vocal appearances by Mary Black, Vince Gill, Tim O’Brien, Dolly Parton and musicians 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 record consists of 15 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.”
 
Martin will reprise the role of intrepid-if-bumbling French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau in MGM’s The Pink Panther 2, in theaters February 6, 2009. When legendary treasures from around the world are stolen, including the priceless Pink Panther Diamond, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese) is forced to assign Clouseau to a team of international detectives and experts charged with catching the thief and retrieving the stolen artifacts. Martin is joined by his co-stars Jean Reno (as Ponton, his partner) and Emily Mortimer (as Nicole, the object of his awkward affections). The investigative dream team is played by Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Yuki Matsuzaki and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Lily Tomlin also stars.