How many legends of bluegrass does it take to remake “Old Town Road”?
That depends on who you ask, at least according to this new music video from Steve Martin and Alison Brown. No matter how you crunch the numbers, there’s definitely some bluegrass star power in the studio with vocal features from Del McCoury and Dan Tyminski, along with first-rate musical support from Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin and Garry West on bass. Can’t nobody tell ’em nothin’!
Banjo pickers Steve Martin and Alison Brown are longtime pals and collaborators on the 2025 album, Safe, Sensible and Sane. (Read their interview with BGS co-founder Ed Helms.) In press materials, Martin noted, “I’ve always loved the idea of ‘Old Town Road’ as seen through bluegrass eyes.” That perhaps explains some of his comical additions to the lyrics. And while the idea was compelling to remake the Lil Nas X smash — Billboard‘s song of the summer in 2019 — Brown also observed, “It’s such a well-known song that my challenge was to come up with an arrangement that would showcase our banjos without giving the song away too soon.”
“Fortunately, some of the best bluegrass musicians in the world agreed to join us, and here we are, ready to ride,” Martin added. But even if you’ve heard “Old Town Road” a million times, you’ve surely never heard it like this.
