The Earls of Leicester

Friday, March 1, 2019 at 8PM at Emelin Theatre

When the Earls of Leicester formed in 2013, their mission was ambitious but exact: to preserve and promote the legacy of bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, in hopes of reviving the duo’s music for long-time admirers and introducing a new generation to their genre-defining sound. Within a year of releasing their self-titled debut, the Nashville-based six-piece far surpassed their own expectations, winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album and earning six awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association. Now, with their first live album, Earls of Leicester offer up a selection of songs that fully capture the pure joy and supreme musicianship that propel their every performance.

For Jerry Douglas — a 14-time Grammy Award-winner who founded the Earls of Leicester and produces all their material the most rewarding aspect of Earls of Leicester lies in playing for a live audience and witnessing their reaction firsthand. “One of the biggest payoffs for me is playing this music for young people, and watching them fall in love with it,” he says. “And even better than that is having the older folks come up to me and tell me, ‘I never thought I’d get to hear that music again.’ That’s when I know when we’ve really done our job.”

“This music conjures up my childhood—it drops me off into a kinder, gentler place, and I think it should do that for everybody,” says Douglas. “When people come to see us, we want them to forget about the outside world and all the stress or strife that goes along with it, and hopefully hold onto that feeling for a while even after the show’s over.”

Barry Bales (bass, vocals) – Shawn Camp (guitar, lead vocals) – Charlie Cushman (banjo, guitars) – Jerry Douglas (Dobro, vocals) – Johnny Warren (fiddle, bass vocals) – Jeff White (mandolin, vocals)

Accolades:

"Holy Moly...people need to hear this music again, and The Earls of Leicester deliver it!" -- Tommy Emmanuel

"The Earls have taken this music, deconstructing the essence of the melody and the lyric, and reassembling it for a new generation of listeners. The result is music that sounds as vital as any kind of popular music being made today." -- NPR Fresh Air

"Once again, the Earls of Leicester do Flatt & Scruggs justice in a consistently entertaining way." -- Wall Street Journal


"It takes a certain amount of credibility - not to mention just pure chutzpah - to assemble a band with the sole intent to emulate one of the greatest bluegrass groups of all times, specifically, the archetypical ensemble helmed by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs that was known as the Foggy Mountain Boys. If anyone was up to that challenge, it had to be Jerry Douglas, whose skill on resonator and lap steel guitar has made him the go-to guy in today's music circles." -- No Depression

"Charlie Cushman (banjo, guitar) is astonishingly good, but more than that, he's well-matched by Barry Bales (bass), Shawn Camp (lead vocals, guitar), Johnny Warren (fiddle), and Jeff White (mandolin), and surpassed only by Jerry Douglas, who remains the greatest player the Dobro has ever known." -- Acoustic Guitar