Almost a week ago, music lost one of its greatest influences. Earl Scruggs was the man who made the banjo popular and in his honor today’s “Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica.” is all about the banjo. Though sometimes used in modern country music, the banjo has been (pardon the pun) instrumental in making bluegrass music what it is today.

At the age of ten, Scruggs developed a style of banjo picking that used three fingers instead of two. This style was later deemed “Scruggs-Style Picking.” Scruggs wrote music for “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and other movies when he wasn’t working on his own music. Scruggs won many awards and was even awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Scruggs died on natural causes on March 28th, but will always be remembered through his music.

“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.” – Porter Wagoner

Songs Played:
The House of Tom Bombadil – Nickel Creek
Duluth – Trampled by Turtles
Dark Days – Punch Brothers
Foggy Mountain Breakdown – Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys
The Ballad of Jed Clampett – Earl Scruggs
Dog on a Leash – Trampled by Turtles
This Side – Nickel Creek
Kingdom Come – The Civil Wars
I’ll Fly Away – Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
Trampled Rose – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
The Cave – Mumford & Sons
Landslide – Dixie Chicks
My Heart Skips a Beat – The Secret Sisters
Scotch and Chocolate – Nickel Creek
Codeine – Trampled by Turtles
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Roll Away Your Stone – Mumford & Sons
November – Trampled by Turtles