Edgar Meyer's command of the double bass and his compositional range across bluegrass, classical, and hybrid idioms secured him the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2002, although this distinction represents merely one milestone in a career marked by many others. After surfacing in the closing years of the 1980s, he built his reputation through independent recordings and partnerships with fellow innovators, among them banjoist Béla Fleck, dobroist Jerry Douglas, and violinist Mark O'Connor. Five Grammy Awards stand to his credit, three tied to projects with mandolinist Chris Thile: the 2000 release Appalachian Journey, 2011's Goat Rodeo Sessions that also featured Yo-Yo Ma, and 2014's Bass & Mandolin. The final pair both entered the upper tier of the Billboard 200. Further alliances have linked him with Joshua Bell, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, Sam Bush, Emanuel Ax, and additional figures, among them bassist Christian McBride on the 2024 album But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?. In addition to his performing life, Meyer maintains an active teaching role as Artist in Residence at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and as a member of the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Meyer routinely identifies his father, a high-school string music director, as his earliest instructor; he acquired his first functional bass, formerly used as a flower planter, at age five. Subsequent studies took him to Indiana University and the Aspen Music School, where his teachers included Stuart Stankey and James Buswell. Stankey, according to Meyer, demonstrated how to claim the double bass as a personal voice, while Aspen also brought his first meeting with Béla Fleck, who would become a frequent collaborator; Meyer likewise encountered his future wife in the Aspen orchestra.
Fleck in turn introduced Meyer to Jerry Douglas and Mark O'Connor. After supporting Meyer's initial four albums, the four musicians, joined by mandolinist Sam Bush, established Strength in Numbers, a bluegrass ensemble whose explorations extended well beyond conventional boundaries. That same openness to fresh forms, paired with Meyer's instrumental command, has continued to attract both listeners and fellow performers. Throughout the 1980s, artists including Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, the Indigo Girls, the Chieftains, and Elton John enlisted Meyer for their own projects. Concurrently, classical audiences came to regard him as an uncommon virtuoso of the double bass's limited repertory, a recognition formalized by the Avery Fisher Career Grant awarded in 1994.
Meyer's compositions integrate notated and spontaneous passages, merging folk, jazz, and classical elements into a cohesive language. Collaborative settings consistently elicit his strongest work, yielding a succession of critically praised recordings. Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, the two albums made with O'Connor and Yo-Yo Ma, dominated charts and year-end lists; Appalachian Journey received a Grammy and prompted a Late Night with David Letterman appearance. In 2011, Ma and Meyer united with another MacArthur recipient, mandolinist Chris Thile, for The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Meyer and Thile have since issued two additional duet albums, in 2008 and 2014, and have toured extensively, a pattern Meyer often follows when a creative partnership proves especially fruitful.
With Fleck and Zakir Hussain he composed a triple concerto and other works for double bass, banjo, and tabla; with Joshua Bell he created a concerto for double bass and violin. His concerto for Hilary Hahn stands apart as a piece written for violin alone rather than bass. Additional partnerships have involved Mike Marshall and Emanuel Ax. Meyer maintains a longstanding recital partnership with pianist Amy Dorfman, programming classical repertoire alongside his own pieces, and he sustains his Aspen connection by returning annually to guide emerging musicians. In April 2017 the trio of Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma, and Chris Thile issued Bach: Trios, a collection of newly arranged J.S. Bach keyboard works. The same group, augmented by violinist Stuart Duncan, reconvened for the 2020 sequel Not Our First Goat Rodeo. But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?, the duet project with Christian McBride, appeared in March 2024.
