More music dies…

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Doug Dillard, Bluegrass Banjo Virtuoso, Dies at 75

Doug Dillard, left, with Gene Clark, one of the founders of the Byrds. The men formed their own duo, Dillard and Clark. (A&M Records)

By PETER KEEPNEWS
Published: May 27, 2012

Doug Dillard, a banjo virtuoso who began the 1960s by helping to introduce a generation of listeners to bluegrass and ended the decade as an early advocate of country-rock, died on May 16 in Nashville. He was 75.

The cause was a lung infection, said Lynne Robin Green, the president of LWBH Music Publishers, which publishes his music.

Mr. Dillard rose to fame with the Dillards, a bluegrass band that also included his younger brother, Rodney, on guitar; Dean Webb on mandolin; and Mitch Jayne on bass. The Dillards’ instrumentation was traditional (except for the absence of a fiddle player) and so was much of their repertory, but they occasionally played electrified instruments and sometimes used a drummer. This approach alienated some purists, but it also helped interest young listeners in a style that the country-music establishment had come to consider passé.

Mr. Dillard’s skillful banjo work, which has been cited as