Musician Spotlight: Jerry Douglas

Musician Spotlight: Jerry Douglas - A Slide Ruler

By Rick Kelly

If you ask 50 guitarists, "Who is the most important guitar player ever?" you are likely to get 50 different answers. From Django Reinhart to Chet Atkins to Les Paul to Eddie Van Halen, the list of guitar virtuosos is endless. But if you ask 50 Dobro players about the greatest player of their instrument, odds are one name will come up - Jerry Douglas.

The Best Kept Secret, Douglas' new album, was released by Koch Records on Sept. 20. The album features guest vocals from Alison Krauss on "Back in Love," and John Fogerty on "Swing Blues No.1." Some of Music Row's finest musicians perform on the album including Sam Bush, Jeff Coffin, Bela Fleck and Derek Trucks.

A native of eastern Ohio, Douglas first picked up the instrument at age 11. He played with his father's band, The West Virginia Travelers, from age 15 until he moved on in his late teens to play with bluegrass greats The Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe and The Whites. Along the way, he developed a unique style that stressed lightning fast licks and blistering solos, but didn't sacrifice tone or melodic sense for the sake of flash. Douglas was dubbed "Flux" by his fellow musicians, in recognition of the seemingly effortless flow of his playing.

As the Urban Cowboy era was drawing to a close in Nashville in the early 1980s, Douglas moved to the city and quickly became the first call producers made when they needed a Dobro player. "Playing as a session musician is an art form unto itself," Douglas said. "You have to become very proficient at your instrument. You have to learn things very quickly, because nobody is going to wait for you to learn the song. At the same time you have to find something to play that enhances the record."

Douglas was up to the challenge, spending more than a decade playing a dozen sessions a week and appearing on more than 1,500 recordings.

During the 1980s, Douglas was at the center of an acoustic music renaissance in Nashville. He was part of a small cadre of talented instrumentalists changing the way people thought about traditional instruments.

Banjoist Bela Fleck and mandolin virtuoso Sam Bush of the groundbreaking group New Grass Revival teamed with Douglas, fiddle phenomenon Mark O'Connor, and bassist Edgar Meyer to form the group, Strength in Numbers. Although they played together at countless festivals and jam sessions, the group only recorded one album, The Telluride Sessions. That one dazzling album, however, was a touchstone for an entirely new generation of acoustic music fans and players. These musicians have gone on to explore all dimensions of acoustic and improvisational music from Meyer and O'Connor's collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, to Fleck's popular jazz ensemble, The Flecktones.

In 1998, after years of intensive studio work as a musician and producer, Douglas was feeling the need for change. "It had been years of sessions at 10, 2 and 6, and I felt like I just didn't have anything left. There was nothing that I could play that was original to me anymore," Douglas said.

Then he got a call from Krauss, an old friend and musical colleague. There was a vacancy in Krauss' band, Union Station, due to the departure of mandolin player Adam Steffey, so she invited Douglas to join the band temporarily until she decided on a new direction. Douglas agreed to come aboard for six months, thinking it would be a great way to get out of the recording studio. Seven years later, Douglas is still touring and recording with Union Station. The band has developed into a brilliantly cohesive and expressive ensemble.

Douglas finds his time with Union Station to be rewarding on several levels, including keeping in touch with his bluegrass roots and allowing him to play challenging arrangements in his own unique style. "The more and the longer you play, the more influences you tend to have," Douglas said. "Bluegrass is my first love and because of the demanding physical aspects of bluegrass it is an easier transition to other forms of music." Regarding the possible negative reactions of the hard-core bluegrass community to his eclectic solo efforts, Douglas is undeterred: "An artist shouldn't make records to please a certain group of people. If you stop changing, it's as if you've stopped learning, and I'm nowhere close to that point."

Douglas's 10 solo albums show an evolution from the fiery bluegrass chops of his early recordings to later forays into jazz. He cites jazz guitarist Bill Frisell as one of his favorites, and said that he's discussed recording with rocker Eric Clapton. "I'd love to make a record with Clapton. We've talked about it, and he was actually going to play on 'The Best Kept Secret,' but he got so busy with his festival and with re-forming Cream, that it didn't work out this time."

When asked how he feels about being referred to as the greatest resophonic guitarist in the world, Douglas is self-effacing.

"For a long time, I was standing out there all by myself. There was Josh [Graves], Mike Auldridge and me. In the past few years, there has been such an explosion in players, and there is so much more educational material available now, that there are a number of really great players who have started to surface. I'm not really out there alone any more."

Rob Ickes, a solo artist and member of the popular bluegrass group Blue Highway, is a five-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's award for Best Resophonic Guitarist. He is also a great admirer of Douglas.

"Jerry can absolutely dazzle you with the speed and technical perfection of his playing," Ickes said, "but then he has such command of tone and melody that he can move you to tears with just a few notes at the same time."

Douglas is aware of his influence as an instrumentalist, and has sage advice for young players who wish to emulate him. "Everybody goes for speed first, just like I did, and that's fine. But after you learn all the pyrotechnics, you eventually realize that tone is so important. Learn your instrument, and hone your instincts. You have to have something to say."

Douglas is nominated for two 2005 CMA Awards: Musician and Vocal Group of the Year for Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. "The 39th Annual CMA Awards," which airs live Tuesday, Nov. 15 (8:00 - 11:00 PM/ET) on the CBS Television Network from Madison Square Garden in New York City, will be hosted by Brooks & Dunn.

On the Web: www.jerrydouglas.com

October 11, 2005