Steve Martin’s dueling careers

7:30 p.m. March 2. $45-$120. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St., N.E. 404-733-4800, www.atlantasymphony.org.

Steve Martin never worried about segueing from a legendary career in comedy and acting to one in music.

What did make him nervous, though, was going back onstage, banjo in hand.

“I didn’t want to stand up there and pretend I’m a rock star, but I believe in doing a good show. So I had to learn how to relax,” Martin said recently, calling from his base of California.

What nudged him back into his comfort zone was — what else? — comedy. Working on the timing of a joke to fit the context of a song. Sprinkling his well-honed bluegrass tunes with Martin-y wisecracks.

And now, he says, “I think we can take our show anywhere.”

The “we” he’s referring to is his live backing band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. The well-regarded bluegrass quintet from North Carolina has received an immense profile boost since Martin tapped the band to go on the road with him after releasing his first album, 2009’s Grammy-winning “The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.”

Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers will bring their bluegrass-Americana-roots music — and some comedy — to Symphony Hall on March 2 for a benefit concert also featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

“I always believed that this music would sound great with an orchestra. When I started playing, folk records were being made in different ways, and one way was to orchestrate the music, like opera singers singing spirituals,” Martin, 67, said. “Aaron Copland orchestrated a lot of folk tunes, and I loved the way he did it, so I was confident this would work.”

Martin’s confidence is based on one previous experience performing with a symphony — the Boston Pops Orchestra.

“We were nervous, but it worked so well that we’ve become unafraid,” he said.

Martin has played the banjo since his teen years, but it wasn’t until 2007 when banjo master Tony Trischka invited Martin to play on his “Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular” album that Martin took what he calls a “baby step.”

“I didn’t want to play a standard because there’s a million guys who can play that, so I said, ‘What if I do one of my own tunes?’ It became a little bit of a hit in the bluegrass world, so I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this,’” Martin said.

That first album, “The Crow,” was immediately embraced by the bluegrass community. He’s since released “Rare Bird Alert,” with guests such as Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks; and, on April 23, he will unveil “Love Has Come for You,” his collaboration with Edie Brickell that features Esperanza Spalding, Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and, of course, the Steep Canyon Rangers.

It’s a graceful collection of songs, with Brickell’s idiosyncratic phrasing a flawless complement to Martin’s charming melodies. And while the album couldn’t sound more cohesive, much of it was recorded piecemeal, with Martin recording music onto his smartphone and emailing the file to Brickell and her hitting him back with lyrics.

“One song I wrote in the Caribbean and she wrote in Mexico,” he said, sounding more matter-of-fact than awed by the process.

A joint summer tour starts May 22 in Florida and the pair also has a musical in the works, but the ultra-private Martin wouldn’t divulge details, saying only, “It’s nothing worth talking about yet.” (He also made no mention of his new role as a first-time dad during this late-January chat.)

While Martin has found a comfortable new niche in the music industry, he’s also raised the profile of bluegrass and banjo music simply by his attached celebrity — a fact that isn’t lost on the Steep Canyon Rangers.

“A lot of people come out to see Steve, and it might be the first time they heard bluegrass music,” said Mike Guggino, mandolin player for the Rangers, backstage at the Grammys, where the group picked up its first award for best bluegrass album. “But while they’ve come to see Steve, they leave as fans of bluegrass and explore the genre. A lot of people are, I think, surprised that they enjoy this genre of music.”

A fascination with banjos and bluegrass might be a new direction for some listeners, but for Martin, the sound literally shuts down everything around him.

“I am completely fascinated with the sound of the banjo. I find it to be melancholy, it can be driving. There are a lot of emotions in its voice,” he said. “To this day, if I hear a song with a banjo, my brain can part away the vocals and the guitar, and all I hear is that banjo.”