Edie Brickell performs during the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images
loading...

Today our focus falls on the pairing of an 80's folk-pop singer and a banjo player who if he isn't the best banjo picker in Nashville, he is at the very least, the funniest.

Edie Brickell was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She began singing while still in high school, joining her first band in 1985, when she was invited to sit in with a friends folk/rock band. She was quickly asked to join the New Bohemians after that guest performance.

By late 1986 the group was signed by Geffen records, after independently releasing an album called It's Like This. The group's first release for Geffen, 1988's Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars has been certified double platinum, reaching #4 on the US album chart, featuring the top-10 hit "What I Am". The band continues to tour and recently released a live album.

Exacrly how do you describe an artist who has had #1 movies, platinum selling comedy albums, has been the #1 guest on Saturday Night Live and who, according to Comedy Central, ranks #6 on the list of the all-time greatest stand-up comedians?

Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers perform at the 2010 Starkey Hearing Foundation 10th Annual "So the World May Hear" Gala
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation
loading...

Simply...he is one "wild and crazy guy".

Steve Martin started his career as a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and through frequent appearances on The Tonight Show, became a hugely successful stand-up comic. He branched out into movies, starring in hits like "The Jerk", "Pennies From Heaven" and "Plains, Trains and Automobiles" and has appeared as a guest host on Saturday Night Live 17 times. Through all of his success in Hollywood and comedy, Martin has never forgotten his first love...the banjo.

Martin first began playing the banjo when he was 17 years old. He has stated that he would take 33 rpm records and slow them down to about half speed, and then tune his banjo down to match the notes. Martin would continue to pick out each not until he could play the songs perfectly. He would eventually take lessons from John McEuen, who would go on to join the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Even though it was a staple of his act throughout his career, no one took Martin's banjo playing seriously, until he won a Grammy in 2002 for a version of Earl Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown".

Steve Martin plays the Banjo at the press conference for 'Pink Panther 2' as part of the 59th Berlin Film Festival
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
loading...

But it wasn't until 2009 that Martin released his first all-music album, The Crow: New Songs For The 5-string Banjo, which also garnered him a Grammy, this one for Best Bluegrass Album in 2010. Martin would also make his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 2009.

As an unlikely a pair as it might seem, Brickell and Martin are in our spotlight today. From Martin's recently released album So Familiar, our Catch of the Day today is Steve Martin and Edie Brickell with "Won't Go Back", new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

More From KLAW-FM