Google honors Earl Scruggs

Grammy Hall of Fame banjo player Earl Scruggs was honored Friday when Google made him its Google Doodle.

“Somebody there - way up in the Google company - must really enjoy banjo,” said Balsam Range banjo player Marc Pruett, himself a Grammy winner.

“It’s a great honor for him,” Pruett told Smoky Mountain Living Friday as he and his band, Balsam Range, traveled to Rocky Mount for a show. “His music has given my life quality that few other things have. There’s something beautiful and pure about it.”

According to Time magazine, “Google’s Doodle was timed to celebrate the anniversary of the 2014 opening of the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina. The Scruggs Center is dedicated to celebrating Scuggs’ life and helping to educate people about the North Carolina musical traditions that gave rise to Scruggs’ talent.”

Scruggs, known as a father of modern bluegrass, died in 2012 at age 88.

As the years go by, “people will see what a true giant he really was,” Pruett said.

Google says “doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.”