The Three Pickers

With 17 Grammy Awards between the three of them, folk and bluegrass legends Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs are about to release their first ever collaboration.

The influential musicians gathered under the moniker “The Three Pickers” for a special one-time only concert at Winston-Salem, N.C.’s RJR Auditorium in December 2002. A CD capturing this live performance is scheduled for release July 15 on Rounder Records. An accompanying PBS special, part of the station’s “Great Performances” series, will air starting July 28.

“I can’t even say it’s a dream come true, because honestly I never dreamed something like this could ever happen,” said Skaggs, the baby of the group at 49-years-old. “I’ve played with Earl some through the years, but to get to actually do a project with him and Doc Watson …someday we’ll look back on this and know history was made that night.”

In addition to the CD and PBS special, there will also be a DVD available with the entire PBS broadcast of the Winston-Salem show plus two extra tracks and a special 22-minute documentary.

“The jam session at the auditorium that night, it was like a jam session at home,” said Watson. “I figured—if we can put our hearts, heads, fingers and instruments together—we could come up with something really good.”

“It’s the best thing I’ve been involved with in a long time,” said Scruggs. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been involved with anything that would compete with it.”

Each of the members of The Three pickers has already left his own unique mark on the American folk tradition.

Eighty-year-old guitar-picker Watson rose to fame during the folk revival of the 1960s and continues to tour today, inspiring generation-after-generation of musicians.

Scruggs, 79, came to prominence as a member of famed bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe’s band during the ’40s. His staccato three-finger, five-string banjo style revolutionized the instrument. Scruggs also is noted for his years of collaboration with the late Lester Flatt. The duo recorded such bluegrass classics as their own “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and Paul Henning’s “Ballad of Jed Clampett,” the theme song from the hit TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Skaggs, a country star in the 80s, cut his teeth playing bluegrass in Ralph Stanley’s band at age 15. In the ’90s, Skaggs got back to his roots, and he and his band Kentucky Thunder continue to carry the American folk tradition into the new millennium.

Americana artist Alison Krauss will also appears on The Three Pickers’ new recordings and PBS special.

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