Alison Brown & Steve Martin - Safe, Sensible And Sane (2025)

With a cast as large as a movie's, Steve Martin's latest bluegrass album—a collaboration with fellow banjoist Alison Brown—is dizzy with stars, starting with the two impressive headliners. After several albums with Steep Canyon Rangers and Edie Brickell, Martin has joined forces with Brown, renowned for her work with Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck and Michelle Shocked. Together, their playing feels loose in the way of people so secure in their work—so, yes, safe, sensible and sane—that they can flash a little flair without risk. No wonder power players are drawn to their environment. Vince Gill brings sincerity and potency to "Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye)," with Stuart Duncan of Nashville Bluegrass Band on virtuosic fiddle and those complimentary—not dueling!—banjos full of emotion. Tim O'Brien takes the mic, mandolin in tow, on plucky "5 Days Out, 2 Days Back," singing Martin's charming lyrics about road life. ("Give a little wave to the fans/ 5 days out and 2 days back …

I come home, give a little shout/ 2 days home then I head out.") For "Girl, Have Money When You're Old," the Indigo Girls settle in alongside an all-star band that includes Molly Tuttle on guitar, Sierra Hull on mandolin, and the group Della Mae. Amy Ray's shadowy rasp and Emily Saliers' honeysuckle sweetness sound great as they offer wisdom about having fun when you're young but taking care to think ahead, and the music unfurls with a luxuriating, easy stretch. A burnished Jackson Browne is not immediately recognizable on "Dear Time," though the warm glow of his tone feels familiar, and his harmonies with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Jeff Hanna are a balm atop the tumble-dry banjos. A fleet-footed Jason Mraz shows up for "Statement of Your Affairs," a light rumba that is like a daiquiri in a song. A true highlight is "Michael," which softly rattles and sways with bossa nova rhythm. Sung by Aoife O'Donovan and with Sarah Jarosz backing her up, it includes lyrics by Martin that recall the delicate intricacies of his delightful fiction: "Michael moved to Richmond, Virginia/ Opened a cafe/ Big names, long lines/ He's interviewed by the New York Times/ The cafe, called La Serviette/ A French sensation/ Prime spot on the river side/ With multiple stars on the Michelin Guide." Martin steps up to the mic for "Bluegrass Radio," a hillbilly hoot-and-holler brag about musical success ("Paul McCartney, you can stand aside!"). Sam Bush's jaunty mandolin makes a great foil for the zippy banjo and Martin plays it up, delivering musical punch lines just like he did back in Little Shop of Horrors. He also sings "New Cluck Old Hen," an ornery, thorny reimagining of a 19th-century Appalachian tune, told from the POV of a man who regrets leaving his wife for a woman who "taught me how to dump my friends/ She taught me how to overspend." Celia Woodsmith of Della Mae takes a verse as the spurned wife and, when she is joined by her bandmates in a feisty round-robin of clucking, you can't help but laugh. © Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist
1. Friend Of Mine (1:50)
2. 5 Days Out, 2 Days Back (3:54)
3. New Cluck Old Hen (3:28)
4. Michael (4:17)
5. Evening Star (4:13)
6. Statement Of Your Affairs (2:36)
7. Dear Time (Prelude) (0:42)
8. Dear Time (4:27)
9. Girl, Have Money When You're Old (4:14)
10. Bluegrass Radio (3:05)
11. Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye) (3:24)
12. Let's Get Out Of Here (2:42)