Steve Martin, Alison Brown talk seriously fun new music: 'Bitterness is not justifiable'
Steve Martin, Alison Brown talk seriously fun new music: 'Bitterness is not justifiable'
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Why everyone loved working with Melissa McCarthy on 'Only Murders'
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez sit down with USA TODAY to talk about the new season of 'Only Murders in the Building' and working with Melissa McCarthy on the show.
Steve Martin is eating a 'fabulous smoked salmon' sandwich, an ordinary activity that he somehow makes amusing by his sheer delight in scarfing it down.
The comedian/actor/author/musician is on a 15-minute lunch break from shooting Season 5 of 'Only Murders in the Building,' the Emmy lauded Hulu hit co-starring Martin Short and Selena Gomez, but he's eager to talk music.
His current collaborator, renowned banjoist Alison Brown, joins on a separate video call from Washington D.C., where she's touring colleges with her son.
The pair, along with bluegrass mainstay Tim O'Brien, just released their third single together, '5 Days Out, 2 Days Back,' a lively toe-tapper that balances the lonely realities of road life with the inherent joys in the routine.
They're positions that both Martin, 79, and Brown, 62, can appreciate.
'I never had kids until 12 years ago (daughter Mary, with wife Anne Stringfield), so I didn't have the family experience with touring. In the early days it was extremely lonely as you can imagine, being a stand-up, because you're all by yourself and if you have any moroseness – and I did – it's a double whammy,' Martin says. 'This song is about the last 20 years, when I toured with (Steep Canyon Rangers) and with Marty (Short). Those road experiences are fun.'
Adds Brown, 'When we started working on this song, Steve was saying it's about a guy on the road and this is what he does. No one is judging it,' she says. 'It's a decision we (as artists) all make and the family we leave at home is one thing, but then we have a family on the road as well.'
More: 'Only Murders' fans: Steve Martin's full life on display in Apple TV+ doc 'Steve!'
Steve Martin and Alison Brown adhere to happy songs: 'Bitterness is not justifiable'
Martin, an accomplished banjoist who has played since his teens, and Brown have notched several collaborations, notably on the song 'Foggy Morning Breaking' from Brown's 2023 album 'On Banjo.' Last fall the pair recruited Vince Gill to join them on the wistful single 'Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye).'
A full release from the pair is in the works, including a track with Jackson Browne on vocals that Brown describes as 'bluegrass adjacent.'
Martin agrees about the tenor of the new songs, noting that they're all relatively upbeat because, well, why not?
'Both Alison and I are at a time in our lives when bitterness is not justifiable in our songs,' he says. 'It's our way of saying this is our life and it's just kind of great even with the problems.'
The Martin/Brown synchronicity is rooted in a shared appreciation of melody. Martin describes Brown's music as 'extremely complex, but always wrapped in a spoonful of sugar' before adding with a laugh, 'I don't know if that's a compliment!'
But Brown affirms his summarization, noting that both musicians are 'drawn to the lyrical side of the banjo … and melodies that can engender an emotional response from the listener.'
Steve Martin and Alison Brown on the 'push-pull' in bluegrass
While Martin and Brown are invigorated by the mellifluous angle of bluegrass music, they also appreciate what Brown calls the 'push-pull' between the rural bloodline of the genre and the emergence of progressive artists such as The Punch Brothers and Carolina Chocolate Drops.
'There are those who are so worried that any innovation on the fringes is going to somehow pollute the traditional core, but I've never prescribed to that point of view because (Lester) Flatt and (Earl) Scruggs were innovators and that is an important part of this music,' she says. 'What is happening on the fringes is so exciting. Billy Strings is authentically bluegrass and is drawing a new audience to the genre and then there are artists like (fiddler) Michael Cleveland and others dedicated to preserving the traditional core.'
Martin admits to being a musical purist throughout his life, but recognizes that 'eventually the artist wins. The artist isn't going to stand still and keep playing the same thing over and over.'
More: Elton John, Brandi Carlile are sunshine and sadness on joint album: Review
Why Steve Martin is protective of his time
Both Martin and Brown – who hold six Grammy Awards between them – have collaborated with other artists, most prominently Steep Canyon Rangers for Martin and Alison Krauss and Michelle Shocked for Brown, who also launched Compass Records with her bassist husband Garry West in 1995. But there is an ease between them that makes this partnership particularly comfortable.
Martin hails Brown as an 'extremely sophisticated musician,' while Brown says working with Martin 'is a privilege because he has such deep musical intuition … Working together on these tunes feels like falling off a log. It floats so naturally. There's a lot of fun and joy in the process rather than angst or hand wringing.'
The pair will bring their songs to the stage June 18 with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as part of Rhiannon Giddens' American Tunes concert celebration of American music. Martin also confirms the duo will play more live events, albeit within the time confines he adheres to in his life, primarily to spend time with his daughter.
'Right now I'm working on a TV show and the rule is, when I'm on TV I don't do anything else,' Martin says. 'I don't go to dinner or to plays and when I'm on the road with Marty, we do four to six shows a month, which is not very many. So time is budgeted and I enjoy my time off so much that I don't want to infringe on it.'
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