GRAMMY Award-winning banjoists Steve Martin and Alison Brown have announced their collaborative album, “Safe, Sensible and Sane”, which will be released on 17th October 2025 via Compass Records. Featuring guest appearances from big names like Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, the Indigo Girls, Tim O’Brien, Jason Mraz, Della Mae, and more, “Safe, Sensible and Sane” emerges as a new turn in the evolution of banjo music. The longtime friends and banjo aficionados have crafted a collection of banjo-inspired songs built on Brown’s daringly inventive melodies and Martin’s idiosyncratic yet tender lyrics.
“With the banjo, there are so many styles you can work with, but Alison and I both have an ear for its more melodic, melancholy aspect,” says Martin. “We got together and played music for days, and ended up making a record where our entire banjo histories coalesce.” “We didn’t start off by saying, ‘Let’s make an album,’” Brown shares. “We were just having a good time writing songs, and at some point we realised we’d written enough to gather them all together and put a bow on it. There was a joy and ease and sense of fun to the whole process, and now hopefully everyone who listens will share that joy.”
“Safe, Sensible and Sane” was tracked live at Compass Sound Studio (the historic studio at Compass Records’ Nashville headquarters, owned and operated by Brown and her husband, bassist and co-producer Garry West).
Highpoints include ‘New Cluck Old Hen,’ which reimagines a century-old Appalachian banjo tune and features the all-female bluegrass act Della Mae, ‘Michael’ (feat. Aoife O’Donovan with Sarah Jarosz), a bittersweet reverie adorned with the breezy rhythms of bossa nova and ‘Money When You’re Old’ (feat. Indigo Girls), a harmony-fueled track with Amy Ray and Emily Sailers trading off lead vocals. You can pre-order “Safe, Sensible and Sane” at this link.
Martin and Brown have unveiled a new single, ‘Dear Time,’ (feat. Jackson Browne with Jeff Hanna). With lyrics by Martin and music by Martin and Brown, the song is a soul-baring letter to time itself. Featuring harmony vocals from Hanna (Browne’s former bandmate during his brief stint in the first iteration of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), ‘Dear Time’ also draws much of its emotional power from the elegant simplicity of its melody.
The video for ‘Dear Time’ was filmed at LA’s iconic Troubadour, the venue where both Martin and Browne launched their careers in the ’60s.
