On Oct 17th, GRAMMY Award-winning banjoists Steve Martin and Alison Brown announced their debut collaborative album, Safe, Sensible and Sane, via Compass Records. Featuring guest appearances from luminaries like Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, the Indigo Girls, Tim O’Brien, Jason Mraz, Della Mae, and more, Safe, Sensible and Sane emerges as a captivating new turn in the evolution of banjo music.
Following their chart-topping collaborations “Foggy Morning Breaking,”“Bluegrass Radio,” and “Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye),” the longtime friends and banjo aficionados have crafted a collection of banjo-inspired songs built on Brown’s daringly inventive melodies and Martin’s idiosyncratic yet ineffably tender lyrics.
One of the most multi-faceted minds in roots music, Alison Brown is a GRAMMY-winning musician, GRAMMY-nominated producer, former investment banker (with an AB from Harvard and an MBA from UCLA), and co-founder of The Compass Records Group which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023.
Although Alison began her musical career as a teenager in the Southern California bluegrass scene, she has built a reputation as one of today’s most forward thinking and innovative banjo players. She is known for taking the instrument far beyond its Appalachian roots by blending bluegrass and jazz influences into a sonic tapestry that has earned praise and recognition from a variety of national tastemakers including The Wall Street Journal, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, and USA Today.