Jerry Douglas

The dobro is one of country music's great curiosities-it looks like a guitar that's had a fancy pie plate imbedded in it during a nasty brawl. But since its invention by the Dopyera Brothers in the late 1920s, its watery tone and lazy slide have become a staple of bluegrass music. When asked "Why does anyone play a dobro?" master of the instrument Jerry Douglas responds, "Every dobro player tells me the same thing. It's the haunting, lonesome, vocal-like quality of the instrument that drives into your chest, takes your breath and never lets go."

When his victory in the bluegrass album category was announced at the recent Grammy Awards, Douglas was watching his kids play. He already had one Grammy to his name, a best country music instrumental trophy from 1983, and a total of seven Grammy nominations. As well, albums he produced for Alison Krauss and The Nashville Bluegrass Band have earned bluegrass Grammys in recent years. For Douglas himself, it's felt like a long dry spell. Despite universally high regard among his peers, "This is the first one I feel is really mine," he says of The Great Dobro Sessions: A Gathering of Resophonic Pickers. "It's really good to be nominated, but it's better to win. Anybody who says just being nominated's good enough has never won."