peermusic Renews Exclusive Global Deal for the Catalog of Earl Scruggs

Burbank, CA (May 23, 2017) - peermusic has renewed its long-term global publishing deal for the catalog of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, as announced today by Kathy Spanberger, President & Chief Operating Officer – peermusic Anglo American Region. During his life, Earl Scruggs was a collaborator with and close friend to many at peermusic, including peermusic founder Ralph Peer.  That special relationship continues with this deal, which keeps peermusic as the exclusive global publisher of Earl Scruggs’ catalog. 

 “It’s hard to think of a more perfect model for the relationship between a songwriter and a publisher than Earl Scruggs and peermusic.   Earl and peermusic worked together successfully for decades to share his music with the world, and I’m so glad that his sons, Gary, Randy and peermusic have the opportunity to extend this partnership,” said Kathy Spanberger. 

 “Our father left an incredible legacy with his music, and our family wants to do everything we can to preserve that legacy so that his songs can be enjoyed by generations to come. peermusic is the publisher he trusted for many years—they’ve been friends to our family throughout the years and they know his catalog as well as anybody, so keeping our dad’s catalog with peermusic was an easy decision,” said Randy and Gary Scruggs in a joint statement. 

An exceptionally gifted songwriter and 5-string banjo player, Earl Scruggs was a bluegrass icon who revolutionized the genre with a unique three-fingered picking style that has since become a hallmark of bluegrass banjo. He began his career in 1945, when he joined Bill Monroe’s band and met Lester Flatt. The two were mainstays of Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys for a little over two years before striking out on their own. 

Performing as Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, the band eventually began playing major folk festivals as well as some of the nation’s biggest stages, including Carnegie Hall and the Newport Folk Festival. During this era they became arguably the most well-known bluegrass band in the nation and shared the stage with other music legends like Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, and Maybelle Carter of the legendary Carter Family. Among their most famous records are “Earl’s Breakdown,” “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (which is the iconic opening and closing theme for The Beverly Hillbillies) and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (a song Scruggs wrote and recorded in 1949, which was featured prominently in the 1967 film Bonnie And Clyde). 

In 1969 Scruggs began pursuing a solo career by enlisting his sons Gary and Randy to perform with him as the Earl Scruggs Revue. The group found success recording for Columbia Records throughout the 1970s. Though Scruggs’ output of original bluegrass material was prolific, he also saw the value in interpreting popular music with a bluegrass approach, making him one of country music’s first true crossover artists. Among his most popular covers is Donovan’s “Colours,” a song that is also published by peermusic. Scruggs’ work from this era helped elevate bluegrass as a genre by exposing it to new audiences nationwide. 

Earl Scruggs has been recognized with numerous accolades for his immense contributions to bluegrass and country music throughout his lifetime. He’s a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of four Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Medal of Arts.

 

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ABOUT PEERMUSIC:

Founded by Ralph S. Peer in 1928, peermusic is the world’s largest global independent publishing company and operates 35 offices in 28 countries.  With well over a quarter of a million titles in the company’s catalogue, and songs that vary from country, blues, jazz and pop to Latin, concert and rock‘n’roll, peermusic is the largest privately owned company of its kind in the world. For further information about peermusic, go to www.peermusic.com. For breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos, follow @peermusic on Twitter and Instagram.

 

Media Contact:

Heather Glenn
Black Market Creative
310.765.1927 x707
hglenn@blackmarketcreative.com