Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell (Slocan Ramblers opening)

Venue:

Toronto Star Stage at Nathan Phillips Square

Mainstage Concerts

Date:

Sat Jun 29 8:00pm

Ticket Price:

$69.50 includes HST

Buy Tickets:

Ticketmaster

Ticket Information:

1-855-985-5000

General Admission
Doors 7:00pm
All Ages

Steve Martin

website: http://www.stevemartin.com

Comedian, actor, author, playwright and Grammy Award-winning banjoist Steve Martin takes centre stage with the Steep Canyon Rangers and special guest Edie Brickell to perform new music from their upcoming release Love Has Come For You (in stores April 23). Love Has Come for You features 13 compositions that combine Steve Martin's inventive five-string banjo work with Edie Brickell’s distinctive vocals and vivid, detail-rich lyrics.

Over the years, Martin used his banjo in his comedy. But there is another side of him that clearly takes the music seriously.

"When I first started doing my comedy act," Martin explains, "I just desperately needed material. So I took literally everything I knew how to do on stage with me, which was juggling, magic and banjo and my little comedy routines. I always felt the audience sorta tolerated the serious musical parts while I was doing my comedy. I just have an affection for it offstage and the sounds it can make. It's magic, and it's beautiful."

In 2001, he played banjo on Earl Scruggs's remake of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". The recording was the winner of the Best Country Instrumental Performance category at the Grammy Awards of 2002. In 2008, Martin appeared with the band, In the Minds of the Living, during a show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In 2009 Martin released his first all-music album, The Crow: The album won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2010. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band member John McEuen produced the album.

Steep Canyon Rangers

website: http://www.steepcanyon.com

"True bluegrass, when done well, is a thing of art and the Steep Canyon Rangers are the genre's current Rembrandt."
-Examiner.com 9/15/12

The past year has taken the Steep Canyon Rangers to new heights. In March 2011, the band released its first collaborative record with Steve Martin, ”Rare Bird Alert” which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart and at #43 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2010, the latest solo record from Steep Canyon Rangers, ”Deep In The Shade”, remained in the Bluegrass Top 10 on Billboard for 18 weeks. While headlining festivals like MerleFest and Bonnaroo alongside Steve Martin for part each year, the Rangers continue to perform alone as a quintet on stages such as Telluride, RockyGrass, and ”A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. Recent television appearances by Steve Martin with Steep Canyon Rangers include ”Late Night With David Letterman”, ”The Colbert Report” & ”Austin City Limits.” With smooth vocals, smart songwriting, ferocious instrumentals and jaw-dropping harmony, the Rangers are bringing Bluegrass to music lovers across the USA and around the world.

Edie Brickell

website: http://www.ediebrickell.com

Singer-songwriter, Edie Brickell is widely known for "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars", the 1988 debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went #4 on the US Albums Chart.
In 2010, Brickell became a founding member of new band The Gaddabouts, consisting of Steve Gadd-drums, Edie Brickell-lead vocal/guitar, Andy Fairweather Low - guitars/bg vocals, Pino Palladino-bass/guitar, also featuring Dan Block, Ronnie Cuber, Joey DeFrancesco, Gil Goldstein and Marcus Rojas.
Brickell had a role as a folk singer in the 1989 film, Born on the Fourth of July. Her version of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is featured on the film's soundtrack. She also sang a cover version of Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side in the 1990 film Flashback.

Slocan Ramblers

website: http://slocanramblers.com/

The Slocan Ramblers started turning heads in early 2009 while playing casual gigs on the Toronto roots scene. The group’s natural chemistry and energetic live shows earned them a reputation as Toronto’s young bluegrass band to watch; their weekly residency at the Cloak & Dagger quickly becoming a staple of the city’s thriving acoustic music scene.

With a successful summer of festivals behind them, including multiple standing ovations at the legendary Mariposa Folk Festival, and a recently released debut album, “Shaking Down the Acorns,” recorded with producer Andrew Collins, the Slocan Ramblers have grown into a focused and exciting group, garnering attention far beyond their traditional bluegrass fan-base.