Steven Martin and the Banjo

Check it out, today's NYT has a story about banjo playing Steve Martin. You can also hear a tune from his album.

Now Mr. Martin is once again in the musician’s role as he releases an album called “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo.” The record (which is being sold exclusively as a download on Amazon.com, until April 26, when it also will be released by 40 Productions as a CD) is a token of his affection for bluegrass, with appearances by performers like Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. But it is also an opportunity to show off one of his less celebrated, least commercial skills, and to reimmerse himself in a musical genre he never fully gave up.

“It’s a secret world,” he said of bluegrass in an interview at his “SNL” dressing room, where his banjo sat beside him in its case like a baby in a bassinet. “It’s a big world, but it’s thin. And it doesn’t make the news, which is actually quite fantastic.”