From Alan Chartock via Rock & Rap listserv
During the Vietnam War, Scruggs, the Southern bluegrass banjo player, stood up at the largest gathering of protesters in history in Washington and played for the assembled throng. To understand how gutsy that was at that time in our history, move forward in time a bit and see what happened to the Dixie Chicks when one of their number dared to open her mouth about George Bush and his policies.
When I asked Scruggs whether he was afraid his Vietnam protest might have hurt his career, he only said, "I didn’t give a damn." When I asked him why he did it, he said, "I was afraid they’d take my kids." When I asked him whether it hurt his career, he said that, in fact, his bookings went way up. What a man.
There are a few rare people who are great musicians and who are there when their country really needs them. It would appear Earl Scruggs is one of them.