Houston Symphony to Welcome Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, 7/31

The Houston Symphony will present multi-talented actor Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, featuring Edie Brickell on Thursday, July 31 in a special, one-night only concert as part of the July "Symphony Summer in the City" Series. This concert will not include the orchestra but will feature the bluegrass group, along with Martin on banjo and Brickell on vocals.

Traveling through Houston as part of a summer tour, the troupe will entertain concertgoers with hits from their chart topping and multi-award winning albums. The Grammy® Award- winning Steep Canyon Rangers are known for their "original, freewheeling, high-energy approach to bluegrass," the American musical genre with influences from Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English folk music. Martin and the band have been delighting audiences across the nation since their first collaboration in 2011 with performances on the Late Show with David Letterman and the Today show and at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry.

Brickell, a Texas native along with Waco-born Martin, won the Grammy® this year for Love Has Come for You, the title track to an album of 13 eloquently rootsy compositions that combine Martin's inventive, expressive five-string banjo work with Brickell's heart-tugging vocals and vivid, detail-rich lyrics. Brickell initially burst onto the national scene in the late 1980s fronting the New Bohemians.

Tickets to the July 31 concert at Jones Hall will go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 17; however, Houston Symphony subscribers for the upcoming 2014-15 Season will have an early-bird opportunity to purchase seats beginning February 26. Contact the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center for more details by calling (713)224-7575, Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets start at $35.

As an actor, comedian, author, playwright, screenwriter, producer and musician, Steve Martin is one of the most diversified performers and acclaimed artists of his generation. Martin has been successful as a writer of and performer in some of the most popular movies of recent film history-appearing in more than 50 films over the course of his career.

Martin began his career as a writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which he earned his first Emmy Award® for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music in 1969. In the mid-1970s, Martin shone as a stand-up comedian on television and became the first comedian to sell out an arena performance. As an author, he has also written the bestsellers Pure Drivel and Shopgirl, as well as plays, children's books and an art collection book. His work frequently appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times.

Ever evolving his body of work, Martin is also a Grammy® Award winning musician who found his love for the banjo at the age of 17. Martin originally used his passion for the banjo as part of his standup comedy routine, but in 2010, he released his first album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.

Martin released his second full length bluegrass album Rare Bird Alert in 2011 featuring 13 Martin-penned tracks as well as special guest vocal appearances by Paul McCartney and The Dixie Chicks. Additionally, Martin co-wrote two of the CD's songs with the Grammy®-winning bluegrass band, Steep Canyon Rangers.

He most recently collaborated with Edie Brickell on the critically acclaimed album Love Has Come For You, which combines Martin's five-string banjo work with Brickell's vivid vocals. Martin and Brickell took home the 2013 Grammy® for "Best American Roots Song" for the title track "Love Has Come For You."

Born in Waco, Texas, in 1945, Steve Martin was raised in Southern California and began working as a comedian and magician at area amusement parks, including The Magic Shop at Disneyland. Martin went on to Santa Ana College, and then earned his Theater Arts degree from UCLA.

During the current 2013-14 Season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its 100th year as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. In the upcoming 2014-15 Season, the orchestra begins its next century under the direction of Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada, the organization's first Hispanic music director and 15th overall. The Houston Symphony is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas whose inaugural performance was held at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $30.7 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 286 performances for 300,000 people, including 82,000 children, annually. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.