Dobro master Jerry Douglas will take the stage tonight at Merriweather Post Pavilion with the purest voice in country music, Alison Krauss and the award-winning ensemble Union Station.
He speaks of the Columbia venue with admiration.
“Jackson Brown recorded portions of his live road album ?Running on Empty? there,” he said. “It?s just a great place to play.”
Performing is the payoff for all of the traveling Douglas does, he said.
“Otherwise, I?m just stuck on a bus,” he said.
Douglas, arguably the world?s best dobro player, has been on the road since early June for his U.S. summer tour. Most dobro players can?t convey why they chose the cerebral instrument, strikingly similar in sound to the human voice, he explained.
“I just liked the sound it made,” he recalls.
Marquees list Douglas separately from Krauss and Union Station, but to Douglas, the three musical forces are a team. “We?re a band 120 percent,” he said. “I get billing because I have such a long track record before I got here.”
Even with 12 Grammys, pioneering “new grass,” contributing to the successful “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack and playing on a lifetime?s worth of recording sessions with legends such as Reba McEntire, Paul Simon and Ray Charles, the musician stays remarkably modest.
Douglas left his lucrative career as a sessions musician when he grew tired of formulaic sounds. Shortly after in 1998, he accepted Krauss? invitation to play.
The spotlight shines solely on Douglas for a few tunes each concert. “I get a little section where I get a few things out of my system that don?t necessarily fit into the show. It?s a break for the band and a nice palette cleanser for everyone,” he said.
Country music cycles from its roots to over-produced radio hits about every four years, Douglas said.
But Douglas, Krauss and Union Station stay on the road to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
IF YOU GO
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
» Where: Merriweather Post Pavilion
» When: 8 p.m. Saturday
» Cost: $30 to $75
» Info: 410-715-5550, www.mer riweathermusic.com
