Jerry Douglas Tickets

Jerry Douglas – The 2016 Tour

Jerry Douglas will be performing at the most renowned concert venues and most exciting festivals in the United States and the United Kingdom. Whether he is playing at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, or MerleFest in Wilkesboro, Jerry Douglas consistently delivers one of the most breathtaking and varied Dobro performances in contemporary music. Don't miss your chance to see the legendary Jerry Douglas live and in the flesh! Get your tickets today.

About Jerry Douglas

Jerry Douglas is widely recognized as one of the best Dobro players in the contemporary acoustic scene. He is rooted in bluegrass, but his eclectic tastes range from jazz to blues to folk to straight-ahead country. Douglas is capable of appealing to new agers with a yen for instrumental roots music as well as to bluegrass aficionados. What's more, his progressive style as a composer has won him comparisons to like-minded legends David Grisman and Bela Fleck.

Douglas was born in 1956 in Warren, Ohio. He started playing the Dobro at the age of eight, thanks to encouragement from his bluegrass musician father. In his adolescence, Douglas was already playing in his father's band. His playing was influenced especially by Josh Graves in the Flatt & Scruggs project, Foggy Mountain Boys. While playing at a festival, Douglas was discovered by the Country Gentlemen, who invited him to join the rest of their summer tour and later took him into the studio. From there, Douglas became a hugely in-demand session player. In the latter half of the '70s, he played with the likes of Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, Ricky Skaggs, David Grisman, and J.D. Crowe & the New South. In addition, Douglas issued his album debut, Fluxology, via Rounder in 1979. This was followed with Fluxedo in 1982, which, like its predecessor, stayed relatively close to traditional (if somewhat jazzy) bluegrass.

In the early '80s, Douglas' session career became even more successful, and he added Peter Rowan, the Whites, Bela Fleck, and Emmylou Harris to his list of co-players. He returned to solo work for his 1986 Sugar Hill release, Under the Wire. This album reflected his interest in "newgrass", the progressive acoustic movement. Douglas then signed to MCA, through which he released 1987's Changing Channels and 1989's smoother, jazzier Plant Early. The '90s brought him more session work with even more prominent artists, such as Dolly Parton, Kathy Mattea, Reba McEntire, Suzy Bogguss, Patty Loveless, Clint Black, Randy Travis, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Del McCoury, and Alison Krauss.

In 1992, Douglas returned to Sugar Hill for Slide Rule, a more traditional bluegrass effort which several critics named as his best recording. The next year saw the all-instrumental release Skip, Hop & Wobble, a trio set with Edgar Meyer and Russ Barenberg. In 1994, Douglas was included in the Grammy-winning collection Great Dobro Sessions. In 1996, he recorded a duo album titled Yonder with Peter Rowan. Douglas' 1998 album Restless on the Farm saw a return to the artist's freewheeling eclecticism, and 2002's Lookout for Hope continued in this vein. The Best Kept Secret dropped in September of 2005. He recorded the musically exploratory Glide in 2003, which was followed by the 2009 holiday album Jerry Christmas. In 2010, Douglas contributed to a various-artists compilation in homage to Tut Taylor, titled Southern Filibuster.

In 2010, he cut the first of several collaborative records with Aly Bain as part of the renowned Celtic fiddler's Transatlantic Sessions series. Douglas worked on the soundtrack of the 2012 movie Get Low with composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. That same year, Douglas released the ambitious solo record Traveler, recorded in New York, New Orleans, Nashville, and the British town of Banbury, with Mumford & Songs, Dr. John, Alison Krauss, Eric Clapton, and Paul Simon as guests. 2014 saw the arrival of the first Earls of Leicester album, a group which Douglas assembled to pay tribute to the music of his greatest inspirations: the Foggy Mountain Boys, Earl Scruggs, and Lester Flatt. In addition to Douglas, the project included Barry Bales, Johnny Warren, Tim O'Brien, Charlie Cushman, and Shawn Camp.

Previous Hits

Jerry Douglas' most successful solo albums are 2002's Lookout for Hope and 2012's Traveler, the latter of which topped Billboard's bluegrass chart.

On Lookout for Hope, the artist's fifth album for Sugar Hill, he offers his usual newgrass with the help of the usual newgrass heavyweights, such as Jeff Coffin, Stuart Duncan, and Sam Bush. Trey Anastasio of Phish, James Taylor, and Maura O'Connell give guest performances as well. Douglas takes on a lot. "Cave Bop" and "Patrick Meet the Brickbats", for example, showcase his lightning-fast playing. These dazzling displays are ultimately none too satisfying, however. He does much better when milking the bittersweet, slow tones of the Dobro, as he does on a cover of "Little Martha" by Duane Allman.

Traveler is another wide-ranging effort from a musician who refuses to settle into a niche. Here, Douglas kicks up his heels with a crew of A-list friends including Paul Simon, Dr. John, Alison Krauss, and Eric Clapton. Douglas attempts some funky New Orleans R&B on "High Blood Pressure" by Huey "Piano" Smith, with Dr. John on keys and Keb' Mo' on lead vocals, while Sarah Buxton brings Raelettes-style vocal harmonies and Douglas peels off some greasy lap steel licks. He opens "On a Monday" by Leadbelly with his bluesy, slippery slide guitar and adds believable vocals, but his stinging guitar work brings the tune home. "Frozen Fields" finds Alison Krauss & Union Station as guests, with Krauss offering her usual shining vocals while Douglas chills out with acoustic guitar fills.

Trivia

The names of Jerry Douglas' first two albums, Fluxology and Fluxedo, reference his nickname of "Flux".

The Jerry Douglas Concert Experience

With more than 50 years of Dobro playing, composing, and experimenting under his belt, Jerry Douglas puts on a show unlike anything you've ever seen. Whether he is drawing from his traditional bluegrass repertoire or busting out Celtic, Arabic, and jazz elements, Jerry Douglas is unquestionably the most skilled Dobro player of our time. Don't miss out on your chance to see the one and only Jerry Douglas perform in concert!