Photo credit: peermusic
Indie music publisher peermusic has acquired bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs’ entire music publishing catalog and most of his son Gary Scruggs’ song catalogue.
Independent music publishing company peermusic has acquired bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs’ entire music publishing catalog and the majority of his son Gary Scruggs’ song catalogue, the company announced today. During his lifetime, Earl Scruggs was an associate and close friend of many at peermusic, including company founder Ralph S. Peer.
Although peermusic has acted as publisher of the Earl Scruggs catalog since the songs were written, with this new deal the company acquires the US rights it previously managed for Earl Scruggs, as well as some of the songs that the Scruggs previously owned and controlled . The deal also includes the acquisition of most of the song catalog of the late Gary Scruggs, Grammy Award-winning songwriter, musician and eldest son of Earl and Louise Scruggs.
“It is a rare opportunity to acquire these incredible catalogs of songs in this competitive music rights landscape, but what makes this most meaningful to us is the decade-long relationship peermusic has with Earl Scruggs and Gary Scruggs. “This deal truly exemplifies everything a relationship should be between a songwriter and a publisher,” said Kathy Spanberger (pictured center right), president and chief operating officer at peermusic Anglo American Region.
“Earl and peermusic have successfully worked together for decades to share his music with the world, and peermusic continues that tradition with the songs of Gary Scruggs.” Thank you to Jesse, Jaime and the Scruggs family for this opportunity – the entire peermusic team is honored to continue to defend and protect Earl and Gary’s incredible musical legacy so that these songs can be enjoyed for generations to come,” Spanberger continues.
“The Scruggs are multi-generational music royalty who have worked with the Peers, a multi-generational family of music publishers, since day one. The story here is amazing,” adds Michael Knox, president of peermusic Nashville (pictured right). “Few artists have defined an entire genre like Earl Scruggs and Gary Scruggs with bluegrass, or made a single instrument popular across genres like Earl did with the banjo – we are excited to continue our collaboration with the Scruggs family .” and to represent her interest in some of country music’s most popular songs.”
“We are now the third generation of the Scruggs family to work with the peermusic team. Our grandfather trusted peermusic as his music publisher from the beginning of his career and the peermusic team has been like family to us through all these years. The decision to keep these song catalogs with peermusic is easy for us because we know how much they have done to support the Scruggs family – and they know these song catalogs inside and out. We are delighted to have Katha, Knox and the Peermusic team oversee these songs,” concludes a joint statement from Jesse and Jaime Scruggs (pictured center), grandsons of Earl Scruggs and Gary Scruggs.
Earl Scruggs received numerous awards for his contributions to bluegrass and country music during his lifetime. Scruggs is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame and has received four Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a National Medal of Arts.
In May, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum officially inducted the gift of Earl Scruggs’ Granada banjo into its permanent collection. Jesse and Jaime Scruggs, along with the Peermusic team, attended the event, which was hosted by singer-songwriter Vince Gill.