Steep Canyon Rangers guitarist and lead vocalist Woody Platt can be forgiven for sounding as if he's not quite sure which time zone he's in. Platt and his bandmates have just returned from a marathon road trip, one that took them from Los Angeles to New York, from Nashville to San Francisco and on to London, where they performed with Steve Martin at the Royal Festival Hall.
Now, he and the Rangers are staring at a 15-day tour of Germany that will keep them from home for most of December. It's a lot to think about for a musician who loves being home as much as he loves playing bluegrass.
"We just got home from a seriously long journey," says Platt by phone from his home in Brevard. On Saturday, he and the Rangers will perform at Cat's Cradle. "Honestly, behind this tour we just did with Steve, it's a bit daunting to think about [the Germany tour] right now."
Platt may be tired, but he doesn't complain. Performing with Martin, whose banjo album, "The Crow," is winning rave reviews from critics and fans, has introduced the Rangers and bluegrass to audiences in such legendary venues as Ryman Auditorium and Carnegie Hall; last month, they performed together on the Late Show with David Letterman.
The tour enabled the Rangers to showcase songs from their latest album, "Deep in the Shade," which was released last month on the Rebel Records label. The album, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart, is arguably their finest in a storied career that began in the late 1990s when the pickers were students at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The album's title foreshadows its mood, which falls squarely on the blue side of bluegrass. Nine of 12 songs were written by banjoist Graham Sharpand bassist Charles Humphrey III. Fiddler extraordinaire Nicky Sanders, a graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music, contributes "Mourning Dove," a rapid-fire instrumental that highlights the band's ample chops.
"Have Mercy," "Nowhere to Lay Low," "I Thought that She Loved Me," "Heartbreak is Real," and "There Ain't No Easy Street" survey the loneliness of love and life on the road. The band also harmonizes on the a cappella gem, "Sylvie," a folk song recorded by both Leadbelly and Sweet Honey in the Rock. And Platt sings the fire out of Merle Haggard's honky-tonker, "I Must be Somebody Else You've Known."
With consistent songwriting, precision picking, and Platt's warm and personal vocalizing, "Deep in the Shade" is mature, focused, and precise.
"I think in small ways it's a departure from what we've done in the past," Platt says. "We didn't do quite as many up-beat tunes. We didn't do as much 'predictable' bluegrass. We didn't use a banjo on one song. We sang an a cappella song that wasn't gospel. It doesn't have the same 'bluegrass attack' as our other records.
"I don't think it was a goal to have a direct theme. It seems that as a band, we're always on the same page. The songs seem to take shape in a similar way. They're not the same song over and over, but they tell where the bad is collectively. This record has a lot more minor chords and the songs are deeper. I think it shows maturity on our end."
The Rangers' alliance with Steve Martin, former Saturday Night Live funnyman, author, and star of film and theater, began some 10 years ago when Pratt's brother became friends with Martin's future wife. Martin was introduced to Woody and mandolinist Mike Guggino, and they became occasional picking pals. When Martin needed a band to back him on the "Crow" tour, the Steep Canyon Rangers were the obvious choice.
It was an excellent choice. The Rangers' thoughtful music and youthful presence helped make bluegrass and the banjo accessible to folks who might not warm to the mountain strains of, say, Ralph Stanley or James King.
"I can't tell you how many people are saying this is the first time they've heard bluegrass," Platt says. "The hard-core bluegrassers like it, too, for the fact that [Martin] really is playing good bluegrass music. He'll leave the stage and give us a good amount of Steep Canyon time, so the hard-core fans gets our bluegrass, too."
Although the whirlwind tour was taxing on the musicians and their families, it provided the Rangers with good music and memories that will last a lifetime.
"It was tough but it was fun hanging out with Steve," Platt says. "Being with Steve every day and him being so excited to be with us, it made it a lot easier. We worked really hard to make everybody happy. If he was ready to pick, we were ready to pick. And he was always ready to pick.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a way to justify the heavy traveling. When else can you do this?"
