IT WOULD be easy to dismiss this bluegrass album as a rich man’s plaything. After all, Steve Martin, comedian turned Hollywood star, is not alone: Tim Robbins brought out a pretty dire album last year, while Billy Bob Thornton has had a go too.

There are reasons to welcome this album, alongside signs that its star turn has been indulged somewhat. The good news is that Steve Martin really can play the banjo, and could easily have made a living that way (although it wouldn’t have funded a hobby as a Hollywood star).

His musicians are great too, and the instrumentals, such as the opening title track, fly along in enjoyably lively style. Yet Martin cannot stop messing around, as on the larky goodbye song Jubilation Day, which has broad fun with breaking up (“You were good in bed… or so my brother-in-law told me…”). In similar spirit is the live track, Atheists Don’t Have No Songs. It’s all good fun, up to a point.