Steve Martin & Alison Brown Release Music Video For Chart-Topping Single “New Cluck Old Hen”

WATCH HERE

Debut Collaborative Album Safe, Sensible And Sane Out Now - LISTEN HERE

Nashville, TN (March 27, 2026) - Today, GRAMMY Award-winning banjoists Steve Martin and Alison Brown release a new music video in support of their chart-topping single "New Cluck Old Hen." The video was filmed at Brooklyn's niche folk club, Jalopy, and features the all-female powerhouse bluegrass quartet Della Mae on a reworking of the traditional Appalachian folk song "Cluck Old Hen." The track is featured on Brown and Martin's debut collaborative album Safe, Sensible and Sane out now via Compass Records.

In Martin's clever reinvention of the song's original lyrics, the protagonist leaves his wife only to be one-upped by her in the end. Celia Woodsmith's emotive vocals provide the perfect foil to Martin's lead. Together with bandmates Kimber Ludiker (fiddle, vocals), Avril Smith (guitar, vocals) and Vickie Vaughn (bass, vocals) and with the addition of 3-finger-style banjo, the energy and attitude provides a perfect capper to Women's History Month.

Martin explains: "I always loved the classic American mountain tune "Cluck Old Hen." Its only problem was it was about chickens. So one day I decided to see if I could give it a new lyric spin. Alison agreed and arranged it with 'power/bluegrass/fusion.' Whatever that is."

Brown comments: "Once I read Steve's lyrics I knew Della Mae would be perfect for the song. And they totally laid down the law, bringing the perfect combination of bluegrass drive and femme attitude to the track."

Brown and Martin are featured in the American Currents exhibit which opened earlier this month at The Country Music Hall of Fame. Over the past 3 years, their collaborations have garnered four #1 singles on the bluegrass radio charts and have generated more than 77M views across social media platforms. Their new album, Safe Sensible and Sane, offers a captivating new turn in the evolution of banjo music with collaborations from luminaries including Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, Indigo Girls, Tim O'Brien, Aoife O'Donovan and Jason Mraz. Billboard Magazine tapped their song "Dear Time," a collaboration with Jackson Browne from the album, as one of the 100 Best Songs of 2025. Listen to Safe, Sensible and Sane HERE . Watch the "Dear Time" music video HERE .

Over the course of their careers, Brown and Martin have each earned countless accolades for their contributions to the banjo: Brown made history as the first-ever female musician to win an instrumentalist of the year prize at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards (where she was named Banjo Player of the Year in 1991), while Martin received the IBMA's Entertainer of the Year award in 2011. Both Brown and Martin have received the Distinguished Achievement award from the IBMA. In 2010, Martin launched the Steve Martin Banjo Prize-an effort that has awarded more than $500,000 in funds to banjo players in any genre or style, with past recipients including Rhiannon Giddens and Jake Blount. Also a longtime co-chair for the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, Brown co-founded the groundbreaking roots-music label Compass Records in 1995.