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Steve Martin wins Bluegrass award

Steve Martin has picked up a top award for his bluegrass music - and said it felt like winning two Oscars.

The Cheaper By The Dozen actor performs in a band called Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers, who won the entertainer of the year award at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards last night (Thursday).

"I want to thank all the other nominees... for losing," Steve joked after accepting the award.

Grammy and Emmy award-winning Steve is an accomplished banjo picker who has taken the medium to a wider audience with two albums of mostly original music and a high-profile series of performances. Entertainer of the year goes to the act that does the best job representing the genre.

"It really means a lot, sort of like winning two Oscars," Steve said. "It's something we work very hard at and I kind of started from scratch. I mean I've been playing banjo for 50 years, but performing in a band I've never done. I've done it for about two years... You know, the hardest part was talking and tuning."

It is the first IBMA award for Steve and the second for the Rangers, winners of the 2006 emerging artist of the year award.

The band has taken bluegrass to The Ellen Show, 'The Late Show With David Letterman, 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and the Capital Mall over the last year.

"And when I play a concert hall somewhere I know half the audience isn't even familiar with bluegrass," Steve said before the awards. "That way we really reach a really wide audience for this music I love and that I love listening to."

Source: music.uk.msn.com
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