Although his new album is titled The Best Kept Secret, multi-talented musician/composer/ producer Jerry Douglas' talents are widely known, both to his musical peers and to an enthusiastic audience that spans the musical spectrum. In addition to being widely known as the foremost master of the Dobro, the nine-time Grammy winner is a freewheeling, forward-thinking recording artist whose output draws upon a bottomless well of musical inspiration, incorporating elements of bluegrass, country, rock, jazz, blues and Celtic into his distinctive musical vision.

Beyond his solo releases, Douglas' stellar slide work has graced over 1500 albums encompassing a dizzying range of musical styles.  As a sideman, he's recorded with artists as diverse as Garth Brooks , Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Earl Scruggs, Phish, The Chieftains, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood, as well as performing on the landmark O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.  As a producer, he's overseen albums by such esteemed acts as the Del McCoury Band, Maura O'Connell, Jesse Winchester and the Nashville Bluegrass Band.  He's been part of such notable groups as the Whites, J.D. Crowe and the New South, the Country Gentlemen and Strength in Numbers.  Since 1998, he's been a key member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, touring extensively and co-producing and playing on a series of platinum albums.

Along with the current lineup of Douglas' band the Brickbats—guitarist Keith Sewell, bassist Derek Jones, drummer Shannon Forrest and violinist Gabe Witcher,  known to rock fans as a former bassist for Eve 6 - The Best Kept Secret features a typically varied array of guest musicians.  The cast includes young axe hero Derek Trucks, who plays bracing counterpoint slide guitar on "She Makes Me Want to Sing"; revered jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who lends his trademark touch to the languid, bluesy "Lil' RoRo"; noted bassist Viktor Krauss, who also plays on the latter song; and longtime Douglas pals Sam Bush and Béla Fleck, whose world-class mandolin and banjo, respectively, are featured on "Who's Your Uncle?"

The Best Kept Secret also includes memorable vocal numbers featuring two notable guest singers.  Alison Krauss delivers a heartfelt performance on the track "Back in Love Again," while roots-rock legend John Fogerty is in fine form on the rollicking "Swing Blues No. 1."  Those tunes follow in the tradition of Douglas ' prior albums, which have featured such singers as Maura O'Connell, Steve Earle and James Taylor.  

"Much of my musical life has been spent accompanying some great singers; I think it is something that I do well and I like to represent that on my records," says Douglas .  "There is a real art to backing singers, to staying out of their way and complementing what they are saying."

The Ohio-born Douglas was seduced by music early in life.  At the age of eight, he was taken by his father—a steelworker who played bluegrass in his spare time—to a Flatt and Scruggs concert, where he was immediately attracted to the sound of the Dobro playing of Josh Graves.  He began playing the instrument in earnest soon after.  "I just liked the sound it made," he recalls.  "It can be real lonesome, or it can be really brash and percussive.  It's such a vocal instrument; you can do so many things on it, because of the sustain and because there are all these different voices you can get out of it."

In 2002, Douglas released the solo album Lookout for Hope and won three Grammy Awards for his work with Union Station and one Grammy for his work with Earl Scruggs, as well as receiving five Grammy Award Acknowledgements for the O Brother soundtrack and its live sequel Down From The Mountain.  He was also named Musician of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year, as well as the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year.  Summer 2003 found Douglas on stage with Norah Jones and her band for sets at the Montreal Jazz Festival and at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.  That fall, he was honored with his second Instrumentalist of the Year title from the Americana Music Association.  In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Douglas a National Heritage Fellowship.

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