Of course, Martin fans know the man has been playing banjo for, like, forever, and that he even worked it into his act during his early days doing standup comedy. Furthermore, Martin showed off his pickin’ skills on Earl Scruggs’ 2001 all-star recording of the Flatt & Scruggs classic “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” where he displayed some serious chops and held his own beside some of Nashville’s star musicians including Vince Gill and Marty Stuart.

Martin’s The Crow: New Songs For The Five-String Banjo is currently No. 1 on Nielsen SoundScan’s bluegrass charts, and the funny guy is doing what all artists do when they have a hit album – he’s taking it on the road. New dates include Sept. 9 in Nashville at the Grammy Salute to Country Music. From there he heads to Brevard, N.C., for a gig at the Mountain Song Festival Sept. 12; San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Oct. 3; NYC’s Carnegie Hall Oct. 6; and Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheatre Oct. 9.

Other stops include Toronto at Roy Thomson Hall Oct. 19, Chicago at Cadillac Palace Theatre Oct. 22, Dallas at Meyerson Symphony Hall Oct. 27 and Spokane at Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox Nov. 2 before wrapping up in Seattle at Benaroya Hall Nov. 3.

For more information on Steve Martin’s fall tour, please click here for his Web site.