The Banjo King Is Dead … But Is This The New King?[VIDEO]

It’s a sad day today for the lovers of banjo pickin’ and Bluegrass Music with the passing of 88 year old  Earl Scruggs .

In an Entertainment Weekly report Country great Porter Wagoner probably summed up Scruggs’ musical importance best of all: “I always felt like Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball. He is the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be.”Scruggs died of natural causes but there was nothing natural in how he played…in fact it was almost supernatural in the way he changed the way the world would play. 

 I’m a rock and roll guy myself but I do enjoy some rip roarin’ bluegrass picking from time to time so in tribute we played a couple of songs featuring Scruggs on the show this morning  and we got to wondering who would step up to fill his shoes. 

And then I got this email from a listener friend and I think I may have already found the answer…yes he has big shoes to fill …made all the bigger by the fact that the potential successor is only 9 years old….Johnny Mizzone and his brothers are the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys and if you’ll check them out you’ll see why I think Earl Scruggs can rest easy knowing the five string is in young but capable hands.

 http://youtu.be/I3qbB4Kq3Y0