Earl Skruggs died two days ago. He was one of those persons of unusual potential who might pop up just about anywhere in the world – potential that expresses itself within a cultural milieu. Earl Skruggs was in a cultural milieu that put him into sun-up sun-down farm work and mill work, and then he became a banjo picker in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Band. Musicians have to be more precise than talkers. If they are not, it shows. With talkers, politicians and writers, imprecision doesn't show so much. Skruggs was not a talkative man, but able with quips. He was more than precise with his banjo playing. Looking at his face and his fingers as he played, you could see (and hear) something marvelous.
Copyright © 2012 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.