Musically, guitarist Jerry Douglas is a jack-of-all-trades, and certainly a master of at least one: the dobro, a resonator guitar designed in the 1920s by Slovakian immigrants. He has become something of a spokesperson for the instrument, both in interviews and wordlessly across thousands of albums — he has lent his skills to more than 1,600 albums, working with musicians like Ray Charles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Elvis Costello. He is widely known for his work on the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and as a member of Alison Krauss’s band, Union Station. You can hear his remarkable playing when he joins Alison Krauss & Union Station Wednesday, July 22, at the Santa Barbara Bowl. I talked to him on the phone about the dobro, travel, and the legacy of bluegrass music.
How are you, and where are you right now? I’m good, I’m great. We’re in Paso Robles today. We were just at the Orange County Fair, but it got rained out and the Angels were rained out, too, for the first time in 20 years. It was a freaky kind of a thing, but there was no roof over the stage. I think we would have played if there had been a roof, but they didn’t have one because it never rains.
Maybe you guys brought the rain. It rained on us in L.A, too. I know you need the rain, but I won’t take credit for it.