Steve Martin Teams With Edie Brickell For Banjo Album

Comedian and banjo enthusiast Steve Martin has teamed with singer-songwriter Edie Brickell (“What I Am,” “Circle”) for Love Has Come For You, an album of co-written songs. The new disc, due April 23 on Rounder Records, was produced by Peter Asher (James Taylor, Elvis Costello). It features instrumental assistance from The Steep Canyon Rangers, who Martin made a Grammy-nominated bluegrass album with in 2011, as well as bassist/songwriter Esperanza Spalding, guitarist Waddy Wachtel and former Nickel Creek members Sara and Sean Watkins.

Songs include “When You Get to Asheville,” “Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby,” “Remember Me This Way,” “Fighter,” and the title track.

“The banjo can be so evocative when it’s used sparingly, and that was in the back of my mind as we were writing,” says Martin in a press statement. “It’s the way I’ve longed to play and hear the banjo, rather than it being present at every moment. In these songs, the point is to tell the story and get out.”

“I fell in love with the banjo tunes because at first listen they evoked images and stories that were true to me,”adds Brickell, who released a self-titled solo album in 2011.

“I think that the goal of any collaboration should be to come up with something that each individual wouldn’t have come up with on their own, and I think that we’ve done that here,” says Martin.

The duo will announce tour dates soon.

Watch Martin, Brickell and her husband Paul Simon perform the vintage country duet “You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” for a charity benefit last year at Radio City Music Hall below.