Jerry Douglas in the encyclopedias as the singular innovator of the Dobro, that horizontal acoustic slide guitar developed in the early 20th century. But that’s like calling Charlie Parker a saxophone player. Jerry is a consummate creator who found an unlikely muse and who made the most of it. Among the vast catalog, Douglas has recorded or performed with: Charlie Waller’s Country Gentlemen, The Whites, Ricky Skaggs, JD Crowe, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, James Taylor, Garth Brooks, Elvis Costello, Bill Frisell and it just goes on and on. Since the mid 90s he’s been a key voice, instrumentally and vocally, in Alison Krauss and Union Station. Recently he formed the Earls of Leicester, a deeply traditional bluegrass band that channels the work and feeling of Flatt & Scruggs, and they promptly won every award in sight. And for many of us, the hub of the wheel of Jerry’s world has been his lifelong collaborations with fellow newgrass superstars Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Tony Rice and Edgar Meyer. And yet for all his adventures, Jerry the band leader and composer never quite found the path to writing and recording in an idiom he’s loved his whole life. Until now. He’s recently released a jazz fusion record called What If.
Also on the show, a short interview with Anna Bek Schwaber, producer and director of The Porchlight Sessions, a profile of the bluegrass community in the 21st century that's newly out as a web pay per view documentary.