Steve Martin really is a “Jerk,” isn’t he? I mean, rightly or wrongly, nobody likes an overachiever. And Martin, that ridiculously multitalented bastard, is making us all feel bad about ourselves by being good at everything he does.

You probably already know Martin has found success in comedy, acting, and even writing (his 1993 play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, was produced at Chicago’s prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre). What you may not know, however, is that the funnyman is also an accomplished musician.
 

Martin’s been playing the banjo since he was a teen, and he commonly incorporated the instrument into his stand-up in the ‘70s. It wasn’t until 2009, though, that he released an all-music (i.e., no-comedy) album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.

He won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for it. Of course. 

Also in 2009, for A Prairie Home Companion broadcast, Martin hooked up with Steep Canyon Rangers, a bluegrass combo out of North Carolina. He’s been sporadically performing with the band since, and the record Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers put out last year, Nobody Knows You, nabbed SCR the 2013 Best Bluegrass Album Grammy.
 

Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers with the Oregon Symphony 
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Oct. 3 at 7 pm Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers are performing with the Oregon Symphony October 3 (along with Edie Brickell, a singer-songwriter Martin collaborated with on the critically acclaimed 2012 album Rare Bird Alert). Once we kill our green-eyed monster, we’ll be excited to see Steve in finger-pickin’, wise-crackin’ form. So will a lot of other people: this show is certain to sell out.