Steve Martin and Alison Brown. Photo: Beth Herzhaft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Steve Martin<\/strong> and Alison Brown<\/strong> are joining forces on a new album, Safe, Sensible and Sane<\/em>, due out Oct. 17 from Compass Records. A first taste of the collaborative new project, \u201cDear Time,\u201d featuring Jackson Browne<\/strong> with Jeff Hanna<\/strong>, is out now.<\/p>\n \u201cDear Time\u201d is a soul-baring letter to time itself, striking a powerful balance of light-hearted humor and wistful sincerity with lyrics by Martin and featuring harmony vocals from Hanna, who was Browne\u2019s former bandmate during his brief stint in the first iteration of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band<\/strong>. A video for the new tune was filmed at LA\u2019s iconic Troubadour, where both Martin and Jackson Browne launched their careers in the \u201960s during a historic period in that music scene, and where Brown later performed as a rising SoCal teen bluegrasser.<\/p>\n The album also features other special guests including Vince Gill, the Indigo Girls, Tim O\u2019Brien, Jason Mraz, Della Mae<\/strong>\u00a0and more, and includes standouts like the recently released \u201c5 Days Out, 2 Days Back\u201d featuring O\u2019Brien which is nominated for Song of the Year, Collaborative Performance of the Year, and Music Video of the Year at this year\u2019s International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards, where Brown also picked up a nomination for Banjo Player of the Year.<\/p>\n Additional high points include \u201cNew Cluck Old Hen,\u201d which reimagines a century-old Appalachian banjo tune and features the all-female bluegrass powerhouse Della Mae, \u201cMichael\u201d (feat. Aoife O\u2019Donovan<\/strong> with Sarah Jarosz<\/strong>), a bittersweet reverie adorned with the breezy rhythms of bossa nova, and harmony-fueled track \u201cMoney When You\u2019re Old\u201d (feat. Indigo Girls).<\/p>\n In shaping the album\u2019s intricately detailed but freewheeling sound, Brown and Martin worked with over two dozen renowned players, including\u00a0Sam Bush<\/strong>,\u00a0Stuart Duncan,\u00a0Molly Tuttle<\/strong> and Sierra Hull.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWith the banjo, there are so many styles you can work with, but Alison and I both have an ear for its more melodic, melancholy aspect,\u201d Martin shares. \u201cWe got together and played music for days, and ended up making a record where our entire banjo histories coalesce.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t start off by saying, \u2018Let\u2019s make an album,\u2019\u201d Brown shares. \u201cWe were just having a good time writing songs, and at some point we realized we\u2019d written enough to gather them all together and put a bow on it. There was a joy and ease and sense of fun to the whole process, and now hopefully everyone who listens will share that joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown and Martin have each earned accolades for their contributions to banjo music: Brown made history as the first-ever female musician to win an instrumentalist of the year prize at the IBMA Awards (where she was named Banjo Player of the Year in 1991), while Martin received the IBMA\u2019s Entertainer of the Year award in 2011. In 2010, Martin launched the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, which has awarded more than $500,000 to banjo players, with past recipients including Rhiannon Giddens<\/strong> and Jake Blount.<\/strong> Also a longtime co-chair for the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, Brown co-founded the roots-music label Compass Records in 1995. Brown and Martin are set to co-host the International Bluegrass Music Awards next month in Chattanooga.<\/p>\n Safe, Sensible, and Sane<\/em> Track List:<\/strong>
1. \u201cFriend of Mine\u201d
2. \u201c5 Days Out\u201d (feat. Tim O\u2019Brien)
3. \u201cNew Cluck Old Hen\u201d (feat. Della Mae)
4. \u201cMichael\u201d (feat. Aoife O\u2019Donovan with Sarah Jarosz)
5. \u201cEvening Star\u201d (feat. McGoldrick\/McCusker\/Doyle)
6. \u201cStatement of Your Affairs\u201d (feat. Jason Mraz)
7. \u201cDear Time\u201d (Prelude)
8. \u201cDear Time\u201d (feat. Jackson Browne with Jeff Hanna)
9. \u201cGirl, Have Money When You\u2019re Old\u201d (feat. Indigo Girls)
10. \u201cBluegrass Radio\u201d
11. \u201cWall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye)\u201d (feat. Vince Gill)
12. \u201cLet\u2019s Get Out of Here\u201d<\/p>\n
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