Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile

The masterful skills of Edgar Meyer -- whether as bassist or composer; in bluegrass, classical, or a mix of genres -- earned him a MacArthur "genius grant" in 2002, but that is not the only accomplishment of this remarkable musician. Meyer always credits his father, a high-school string music director, as his first teacher, and picked up his first real bass -- which had previously served as a flower planter -- at the age of five. He would go on to study at Indiana University and the Aspen Music School with Stuart Stankey and James Buswell. It was Stankey, he says, that showed...