Recap Steve Martin at the Cadillac Palace Theatre

“A lot of people say, ‘Steve, why a music career, and why now?” Steve Martin quipped halfway through his set last night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. And for an instant, it seemed the ironically smarmy comedian’s late-career change of heart would be fully explained. That is, until he dropped the punchline: “Hey, you people are my band!” And with that, it was clear the night wouldn’t offer any grand answers, but why should it? In a way, a Steve Martin bluegrass tour with the fast-pickin’ Steep Canyon Rangers is hardly shocking. His comedy records were always punctuated with banjo playing and the occasional quirky song, but he’d also indulge himself: 1981’s The Steve Martin Brothers increased the ratio of banjo-to-comedy by flat-out showcasing his lightning-fast plucking. That record came with an announcement from Martin that he’d be retiring from performing comedy, but last night proved that proclamation to not exactly be true.

The evening was peppered with plenty of throwaway one-liners that took ample advantage of the fact that he had a bluegrass band behind him. After a rousing “Pitkin Country Turnaround” to kick off the show, the bespectacled Martin grinned and announced, “Wow, only 37 more songs to go!” before launching into the buoyant “Freddie's Lilt,” but pausing first to note that Rolling Stone recently deemed the tune “worth illegally downloading.” While Martin was exceedingly charming and showed he hasn’t lost his sense of humor after releasing his first bluegrass album (this year's The Crow) his jokes weren’t the focus. Although, it couldn’t have hurt: The house was stomping and rapturously clapping along by the end of the second song.

His backing band adds a considerable amount of legitimacy and muscle to Martin’s deep-seated bluegrass passion. But, as it turns out, they’re pretty funny too. They ably played the fool when Martin’s winking bravado reared its head: When guitarist/lead singer Woody Platt had to stoop to heighten the microphone after he and Martin swapped places, Martin, without a beat, shot back, “That’s not really my job, if you think about it.” Later in the set, upright-bassist Charles Humphrey retrieved a banana for Martin from inside his instrument, calling back to Martin’s absurd claim that one of the tour’s greatest perks is how Humphrey’s instrument doubles as a refrigerator.

Martin and his backing band on A Prairie Home Companion this summer. 

Oddly, but not surprisingly, Martin left the stage to “wash my hands for 10 minutes” halfway through the night, letting the Steep Canyon Rangers soak up the spotlight solo. They played some noticeably more frenzied tracks from this year’s Deep In The Shade, as well as the strutting “Call The Captain” from 2007’s Lovin’ Pretty Women and the a cappella gospel of “I Can’t Sit Down.” “Man, when you guys add music to that song, it’s gonna be great,” Martin teased while making his entrance back to the stage, before leading the band in the jokey new song, “Jubilation Day,” which recounts all the reasons his therapist signed off on him leaving his significant other. From there, the Rangers upped their game: Fiddler Nicky Sanders’ mad-scientist hair swayed feverishly while the horse hair in his bow came undone; Mike Guggino terrorized his mandolin so quickly it sounded as if it was being played back at an impossibly fast speed. Martin ably kept pace with all of them in a solo medley, joking, “Did you ever think you’d listen to 15 banjo songs?"

After the group served up some bluegrass comfort food in the classic “Orange Blossom Special,” (though gussied up with Sanders’ cocky injections of melody lines from “Simple Gifts” and “Norwegian Wood”), Martin acknowledged that, yes, he is the same man who once did all them funny jokes decades ago: The band nonchalantly launched into a bluegrass take on the novelty tune “King Tut.” We all want our favorite artists to grow and challenge their audience, and while it’s easy to bristle when they make some head-scratching moves, it’s easier to embrace them when the artist meets them halfway.