With
the passing of Earl Scruggson Wednesday, the world — and I use that term with considered precision — has lost one of its greatest musicians. Though it’s obviously true that his banjo played the critical role in bringing a new and highly particular style of music into being, it’s equally if less obviously true that the impact of that act — and all that followed it — has been felt across the decades and around the globe. And while he’s gone now, there’s little doubt that his legacy will continue to resound for as long as there are banjos to be played — and really, possibly even longer than that.
Earl was, of course, a key player in the group that created bluegrass back in 1946 and 1947, and the effect his banjo playing had on audiences and on fellow musicians is nearly impossible to overstate. But as important as that was, it was what happened after he left Bill Monroe’s employ and partnered up with fellow former Blue Grass Boy Lester Flatt in their own group that did the most to build, and eventually cement his reputation.
