No joke: Steve Martin kills on banjo

ON TOUR: Actor-comedian reunites with his old stand-up partner, the banjo, for serious music STEVE JOHNSON; Chicago Tribune Steve Martin understands that the path has been made difficult for movie stars who would moonlight as musicians. “I think I know the kind of thing you’re talking about,” he says. “What they really want to be is a rock star rather than a rock musician.” He’s too gracious to name names (Jim Belushi), but plenty a mediocre band has found itself thrust before audiences it hasn’t earned thanks to a celebrity frontman (Jared Leto, Billy Bob Thornton …). “There probably is a prejudice against celebrities doing music if they didn’t come up that way,” Martin says. “But I have not found it, and, you know, luckily for me, in this case.” “This case” is his current concert tour, his first as primarily a musician. In... [read full story]                    

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