EARL SCRUGGS

The youngest of a family of musicians from the Flint Hill community, near Shelby, N.C., Earl Scruggs began playing the banjo at the age of four. By age 10 he could play the more complicated three-finger style that would become known as Scruggs-style Picking. When Scruggs joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1945, adding his banjo sound to the mix, bluegrass music was formed. Scruggs’ success continued with later groups: Flatt and Scruggs as well as the Earl Scruggs Revue. During Scruggs' innovative career he crossed musical boundaries and defined the voice of the banjo to the world.