Tag: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Jeff Hanna talks Will The Circle Be Unbroken albums and how they resonate 50 years on

Those that have studied the evolution of bluegrass, traditional music, and the history of Americana music in general need not be told the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s impact on the arc of that trajectory. And the means by which they brought the past to the present courtesy of their landmark album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken and the subsequent sequels that followed. With that initial three-LP volume, released in 1971, the band introduced such legendary forebears as Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Earl and Randy Scruggs, Roy Huskey Jr., Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Jimmy Martin, and more to a contemporary audience, and ensured a bond that some never before thought possible. That is, a connection between the iconic originators of the form and an audience of long-haired, counter cultural music enthusiasts who had made it their practice to defy the establishment. 

As a result, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band can be credited with a fusion of form that has remained intact from those origins a half century ago clear to the present and towards the future. 

It was only natural that the band should take the role of headliners at the first Earl Scruggs Music Festival over this past Labor Day weekend. It was after all, a homecoming of sorts, an event that they were largely responsible for in terms of having initiated the current surge of popularity that bluegrass has enjoyed over the course of the past five decades. Bluegrass Today had opportunity to speak with Jeff Hanna, the band’s co-founder and a continuing mainstay, and ask him his thoughts, not only on the festival, but the integral role the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has played in making it all possible.

BLUEGRASS TODAY: So Jeff, you’re a modest individual, but clearly you can claim credit for this festival in a great degree. Had it not been for the Circle album and the crossover it generated in its wake, festivals like this may never have been imagined.

JEFF HANNA: I’m just grateful for the association with Earl, and all those other folks, including Merle Travis and Roy Huskey Jr. and Jimmy Martin. Whatever our role was in all that, maybe exposing some of these great artists to another generation and another sort of creating a cultural crossover with a different bunch of folks, it was a great to have been part of it because those folks are amazing. And their legacy is as well. There’s no stopping it. 

But obviously, you deserve so much credit for bringing that legacy forward and for making people aware, because that’s what you did with that album. Being in this environment, that connection that you guys nurtured really resonates. The circle is in fact coming around again.

Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Being at Earl Scruggs’ namesake inaugural festival is so cool for us, and so is having a guy like Jerry Douglas, who has been playing on our records since 1984, being here as well. He played on Long Hard Road, which was our very first country hit. Jerry played dobro on it. And he played on Will the Circle Be Unbroken part two. He also played on quite a few tracks on Circle three. And when we did the Circlin’ Back special and record for PBS, he was all over that. He’s just such a natural, and we’re really good friends as well. So getting on stage and picking with him is just fascinating. You just wanna watch Jerry in his element, because he embodies everything that this music is about. He’s always smiling, and it’s totally not fake. He’s that guy. And it’s also really cool to play with Alison Brown. It’s the first time we ever got to play on stage with her. She’s so cool, man. And she’s such a great player.

So this is where it really hits home. I’m not a banjo player, nor a dobro player, nor a fiddler. I’m a passable rhythm acoustic player when it comes to bluegrass. But I love singing it and I have a deep appreciation for it. To have been part of something that influenced people like Béla Fleck and Sam Bush and some of those other great people is amazing. They’re all people that I admire, and I’m a fan of all of them. So to know that the music we made really mattered to them, and had some kind of impact and got them into that music, it’s really cool.

Did you have any idea it would evolve this way?

I’d love to say yeah, we had it all planned. We did not. It was a great example of the planets aligning. Jimmy and I were talking about it earlier today. We did the Uncle Charlie album and that had Mr. Bojangles on it. Yeah, sure. It’s also got Randy Lynn Rag, this instrumental piece that Earl wrote and that John played a great banjo bit on. His banjo playing is just fantastic on that. And that really caught Earl’s ear. But what really got Earl’s ear was his sons Randy and Gary. They were fans of us because of Bojangles. It was all on the same record, right? So here comes the family’s interest, and as a result, Earl made the first gesture. He said, “I’d love to record with you guys.”

Wow. So the impetus came from him?

That was later on. There was a secondary aspect to it. When we met up at Vanderbilt University in the fall of 1970, a bunch of conversations took place behind the scenes, and with Bill McEuen, John’s brother, who ended up producing that record. Bill called us all up and said, “Man, I got this idea. Earl Scruggs wants to record with you, so what would it be like if we got folks like Doc Watson and Merle Travis to come and play?” Then Earl brought in Mother Maybelle Carter. I’m not saying it wasn’t a lot of hard work, but they always say that hard work and talent only gets you so far. Then there’s luck. Well, this was a situation where we were simply lucky. We were lucky that somehow that record, Uncle Charlie, found its way into Earl’s family’s hands. And that got the ball rolling. But Bill had this bigger idea of having us and our influences together in the studio. 

So what was your reaction to that idea?

We were just like, heck yeah, because these were among our favorite artists. We admired those artists so much. Plus, we got to hang out and hopefully become friends. And we did. And those those friendships  all lasted a lifetime. I mean, Earl, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements… they all played on all three Circle albums. And we did bunches of gigs with them over the years, and Randy Scruggs, of course, produced both Circle two and three. There are those are chunks of your life you never forget. Vince Gill has a great line. He says you get this really great stretch of life, and I agree with all of that. So yeah, coming here is like honoring that legacy once again. 

So what was Earl like?

He was a genius, an innovator, and the coolest guy you’d ever want to know.

So when you did the first circle album, obviously you were in awe of all these great people you were playing with. Did you realize what a momentous situation that was, and what it would lead to as far as the crossover was concerned, and the fact that it would become one of the great landmark albums of the century?

Yes, when we finally got to hear it, because it was recorded in a whirlwind. We did it in six days and it was all done live. We recorded 30 some songs. Bill McEuen took all those tapes. He ran an additional tape machine that picked up all those great conversations. He took all of that back to Los Angeles or Colorado, I can’t remember. He was living in LA and in Aspen, Colorado. And he assembled it all. He found these gems, how Doc named his son Merle after Merle Travis, and they were together for the first time in the studio. It’s just all this stuff, which is like priceless. And he sat us all down and played it for us. And we were like, “holy cow!” We were blown away by the record. But as far as knowing the impact, no, we didn’t. We were just real proud to be part of the project.

But as far as knowing how important this was going to be? For example, when we did Circle two, I had read somewhere that Bruce Hornsby said it would be one go his “desert island discs.” I didn’t know he was a bluegrass fan. So somehow I got his number, and I cold called him and I said, we’re doing a second Circle record and would you like to take part? He didn’t even take a beat he said “when?” We won a Grammy with Bruce for the bluegrass version of The Valley Road.

In a bigger generic sense here. bluegrass has come a long way in the public eye, and when you consider that its original go back over a century, it’s impressive how vital it remains.

And it’s so diverse. I love that about it. I remember when we played a festival withThe Carolina Chocolate Drops. I just love them — Rhiannon Giddens and Don Fleming.

I’m a big fan of his. I love that connection so much, and I love that bluegrass bands are starting to look like America, It’s not just a bunch of white guys as well. Plus, women are such a strong part of it. Alison is so great. And of course Alison Krauss as well. Just take those two women. Then you got folks like Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull. I’m huge fans of theirs. It’s just so great. It’s so deep. And then there are kids like Billy Strings. It just blows my mind, and the McCoury boys. It’s just so deep and so wide. And I feel like every day I’m hearing about somebody else, like bands like the Stringdusters, like our old buddies, Leftover Salmon, all of whom are carrying on that jam grass thing, you know?

From an audience point of view, what do you think has brought these younger folks into the fold? And  finding the older folks who are just continuing to just love it?

I think that I think now, I feel like our work here is done in that regard. The next generation, which was Béla, Sam and all those guys… the path that they forged did such an amazing job of keeping it vital, and establishing the influence they’ve had. That’s where you get your Sierra Hulls and Molly Tuttles and Billy Strings. It’s like, this torch has been passed. I hold them in high regard for the fact that there are some really extremely super progressive musicians in that bunch that I just named. And they have absolute respect for the folks that came before.

It’s amazing to me how they sort of toe the fine line between bowing to the traditional, but still putting their individual touches on it and moving it forward the future. The traditionalist might stick his nose up at that, but they’ve managed to do a balancing act. And that’s what’s so remarkable as far as I’m concerned.

I think one thing that’s so amazing about Jerry Douglas and Alison, who are going to play onstage with us tonight, is that hey love all kinds of music. They can sit you down and play you a reggae song or some jazz or blues. And then pivot to like Led Zeppelin and then pivot to like, straight back to Flatt & Scruggs. I love that. That’s the environment that we grew up in, in Southern California. There was an FM station called KPFK years ago, and I remember literally hearing Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs back to back with Jimi Hendrix. It’s just great music, but that’s the point. It, kind of blew our minds a little bit.

John McEuen book on the making of Will The Circle Be Unbroken in August

The highly-celebrated Will The Circle be Unbroken, the seventh and perhaps most consequential album released by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in November. To mark this Golden Anniversary, John McEuen is releasing a book that details the making of the star-studded 3-LP set released in 1972.

John was not only the banjo player with the Dirt Band, he and his brother, William (Bill) who produced the recordings, were the driving force behind the whole project. John I sat down for a phone interview a few weeks ago about the book. If you ever get the opportunity to talk to John, it’s best to just listen as his memory is impeccable, and his thoughts of yesterday, as well as his future endeavors, are always foremost on his mind. However, one part of our conversation is what I especially want to share with all bluegrass lovers, like myself.

“This has been fifty years in the making. Will the Circle be Unbroken was a collaboration of many famous bluegrass and country-western players. In fact, the album played a significant role in furthering Vassar Clements to a much wider audience,” said John.

This book is filled with memories showcasing the recording of this album. Stories are shared by John McEuen, Marty Stuart, members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and many more. Photos Bill had taken during the recording sessions are included, which have never been seen until now.

John shared that, “I had always wanted to meet two artists. Mother Maybelle and Earl Scruggs. Bill and I traveled to Nashville in hopes of seeing them perform. The old Ryman was sold out that night. On the west side of the building, people would line up and peek through the windows, which were opened. When it was our turn, Earl Scruggs was introducing Mother Maybelle. I stood there as I watched her, and knew that I was in the right place.”

The McEuens eventually did meet Earl and Maybelle, and when they agreed to be part of this next Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, it exploded into a once-in-a-generation project that also featured luminaries like Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, and Earl’s sons Randy and Gary Scruggs.

So in August 1971, this group of stellar musicians assembled with the rest of the Dirt Band in the old Woodland studio, which was on a corner street in East Nashville. And magic was captured.

Magic is an apt term when it comes to McEuen, as magic was his first stab at the entertainment world, and where his path first crossed with fellow banjo player Steve Martin. Both John and Steve were magicians at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA when they were younger.

In 1971, the NGDB had a “hippie” look with authentic country/rock sounds, layered with plenty of fiddle and banjo. They had seen some success with earlier albums, but Roy Acuff described them as “a bunch of long-haired west coast boys.” In that circle of established country acts, most of the artists were much older than these boys, but they all had one thing in common. Their undying love of music, both bluegrass and country. Acuff had reservations about being a part of this album, but later agreed, and his contributions are now ones for the history books.

John told me that each track on the Circle album was recorded on a first or second take, straight to two track masters (which McEuen is proud to have retained).

During our conversation, I asked John about a Circle album memento I had acquired at an estate sale in Guthrie, OK (the hometown of Byron Berline), which had bumfuzzled me since my purchase. It’s a 12” x 6” section of an old railroad tie, and on the top is a rail spike with “Will The Circle be Unbroken” stamped on it, and “Nitty Gritty Dirt Band” in smaller letters. On the front is a decoupaged black and white photo of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. John McEuen is donned in a leather suit, and his reaction to my mentioning it was, “I don’t know how long I wore that suit before I had it cleaned.” On the back of this old railroad tie is a black and white photo of the iconic album cover.

The history of this rare find blew me away. “You have one of those?”, asked John in surprise. “Bill was always coming up with promotional items and that is one of them. I don’t even think I have one of those. He only had 200-250 made.”

Will the Circle Be Unbroken – the Making of a landmark Album is set for release in August. Pre-orders are enabled now from popular online bookstores.

It is blurbed by Richie Furay, John’ contemporary, who was a member of Buffalo Springfield and the founder of Poco.

“After reading John’s book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken (the behind-the scenes stories of the recording of the album of the same name), you get the feeling you were there! The album was truly a historic moment in American music history, and John takes us on the journey of how it all unfolded into reality: you get to ‘meet’ the players and hear them talk about the project and tell their stories, just as if you were a ‘fly on the wall’ of each session. Listening to the album afresh while reading the book brought goosebumps to me. It’s more than just a musical journey the Dirt Band was on—it is reliving a historic moment in time.”

Jump on the train, read the book, and enjoy the ride with John McEuen. He is clearly a man of many talents.

William E. ‘Bill’ McEuen passes

William E McEuen, known widely as Bill, has passed at 79 years of age. He died on Thursday, September 24, with the news shared by his brother, prolific multi-instrumentalist and award winning artist, John McEuen.

Bill had been involved in John’s career since the beginning, starting out as his first music teacher showing the younger brother how to play guitar. He served as manager for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the early days, getting them their first record label contract, and steering them in many positive directions as the band’s popularity grew.

On the first two Dirt Band albums, Bill wrote songs and contributed photos, until on their third, Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, which included their first hit, Mr. Bojangles, in 1970, the older McEuen served as producer and engineer. And he was deeply involved in the band’s iconic Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, which released as a three-LP set in 1972. Bill was producer and engineer, contributed photography, played guitar, and handled the art direction for this milestone release. John McEuen has also credited much of the initial concept for the album to his brother.

Bill continued to produce the group’s subsequent records, before embarking on a new direction in comedy and film, working closely with Steve Martin, who had been a family friend since John and he became friends in high school. McEuen produced and engineered Martin’s first four comedy albums, which include the breakout A Wild and Crazy Guy in 1978. He followed Steve to the film studio producing The Jerk in 1979 through the company he and Martin founded, Aspen Film Society. That success was duplicated with other hits like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and The Man With Two Brains.

But success in Hollywood didn’t dull Bill’s enthusiasm for music. He continued to produce for John, including his two highly-regarded String Wizards albums and The Essential Earl Scruggs in 2004.

His are contributions that anyone involved with the world of creative arts would be proud to call their own. John and Bill McEuen remained close until the end.

John shared these words at the end of a Facebook post noting the loss of his brother.

“William E. was mentor to many who continue today in showbusiness doing great things.

He leaves behind his wife and business partner Alice (Alice did the calligraphy on ‘Circle’); brother John, and a bunch of singing, laughing, and dancing people with happy feet who loved what he brought them. He KNEW what they would like!

‘Bill’, aka William E. McEuen, has left the building.”

R.I.P., Bill McEuen.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back to the festivals this summer

One of the more fun outdoor bluegrass festivals early in the season is the annual Bloomin’ BBQ & Bluegrass in Sevierville, TN. Located right along the tourist strip just before you enter Pigeon Forge, this event is put on by the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, and a number of corporate partners.

Several things make this festival unique. It is paired with the Bush’s Best Tennessee State Championship BBQ Cook Off, which draws cook teams from all over the state to compete for $17,500 in cash and prizes. It also hosts the Mountain Soul Vocal Competition, the only singing contest that specifically honors the music of Sevierville native, Dolly Parton. Plus there are two full days of music from top bluegrass artists on the main stage.

And it’s all free! That’s right, sponsors pick up the costs of running the show, so that Sevierville can welcome visitors to town to see all the natural beauty and family fun available in the region.

Everything is held around the courthouse, with the front parking lot cleared for music lovers, and the BBQ cook teams lining the streets behind. People bring lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy the bands, or wander through the vendor and cooking area for a smell and a taste. Bloomin’ BBQ & Bluegrass ensures that things are family friendly, and it’s a great way to introduce youngsters to bluegrass.

A big treat for 2019 is the first local appearance by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a venerable act that has been going since the mid ’60s. From the start, they have blended bluegrass into their pop and country rock sound, even on their big radio hits like Mr. Bojangles in 1970 and Fishin’ In The Dark in 1987. Probably their biggest recorded success came with the 3-LP set, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, which matched the band with bluegrass legends like Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, and Vassar Clements, as well as traditional country icon, Roy Acuff.

NGDB has seen a lot of personnel changes over these 53 years, but one man who has been there from the start is guitarist, mandolinist, and lead vocalist, Jeff Hanna. With drummer, Jimmie Fadden, Jeff launched the group in Long Beach, CA in 1966, alongside banjo player and fiddler, John McEuen. Hanna and Fadden are the lone constants among the many members who have come and gone.

We had a chance to speak to Jeff about working the Sevierville show, and he remarked right away the they have always loved the bluegrass scene.

“Bluegrass has always been part of what we do, and those festivals are a lot of fun. There’s such a wide range these days, from MerleFest and Hardly Strictly, to the traditional fests like Bean Blossom. We have a real blast at these things.

I hope they like us – I think they will.”

Hanna also mentioned how his own musical tastes keep drawing him to the grass.

“As a fan, a lot of my listening these days is coming from the bluegrass side of things – love Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle, I’m With Her, Traveling McCourys, Greensky Bluegrass. There’s so much great stuff going on in that world. It’s a testament to bluegrass fans, and the healthy environment for good music.”

And thinking about Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s long tenure in the business, and the wide variety of musical styles they have recorded, he reflected on the good fortune of their longevity.

“It dawned on us a while back that we were really lucky to play in a band like this. We have a great fanbase – they’ve been really patient with our changes.

We’re just grateful to be able to keep doing this. Health and father time will be the ultimate decider, but we’re having a blast out there.

It’s the most fun we’ve had in a decade.”

Bloomin’ BBQ & Bluegrass will run May 17-18 with sets from Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Dale Ann Bradley, and Balsam Range also on the schedule. You can see full details, including a list of nearby accommodations, online.

John McEuen leaves Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

At the end of last month John McEuen, one of the founding members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB), announced his immediate departure from the iconic group.

Stating “enough is enough,” McEuen left at the conclusion of the NGDB 2017 tour, the last gig of which was in Fargo, North Dakota, on Sunday, October 22. The date marked the end of the band’s 50 year anniversary.

McEuen’s decision to leave comes after careful consideration and contemplation. “In assessing the situation surrounding our performances, business disagreements and ongoing difference of opinions, the timing is appropriate for my departure. As a catalyst to my decision, in December 2015, I received confirmation from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Inc. that I was an ‘employee,’ no longer a member of the corporation that I helped to build,” stated McEuen.

We contacted McEuen and he provided this additional information …

“Many things are verbal .. or non verbal .. in this business. I left after 21 years as president of a corporation of which I was one of the founders (1987). When I remastered the Circle album for its 30th year, (I had kept the masters for the previous 25 years in my house) it became apparent that Jeff and I needed to do some reviews to promote it. Just prior to that the band’s manager wrote everyone a letter saying, in essence, it would be best for the NGDB if I was again part of it. I, with some trepidation, agreed, and was ‘back in the band,’ again a ‘member’ I was told.

At some point along the ensuing years they decided it was best to not have me be a part of NGDB Inc., and a few conversations let me know that I was an employee. I asked for that to change, to not be ‘just an employee’, but after a couple of years of waiting for that answer, they said ‘we think it is better this way.’

It was a small, but definitive part to be informed of that… there are said to be 50 ways to ‘leave your lover’… but over 100 reasons to leave a band. The time came for that, as my solo work has always been more rewarding in all ways. NGDB has played the same 18 songs for 12 years. None of my music, only one song from Will the Circle Be Unbroken (well, this past year we added one more), nothing new and there won’t be. Two albums in 12 years.”

The multi-talented — he plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle — McEuen (or String Wizard, as he is known), and his older brother William provided a large part of the impetus for the NGDB – William was the group’s manager and he helped the band get signed with Liberty Records; and with William as producer and a renegotiated contract that gave the band more artistic freedom, the band recorded and released a country music orientated Uncle Charlie and his Dog Teddy (in 1970).

This album included the group’s best-known singles; a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr. Bojangles, which became the group’s first hit, peaking at #9; Michael Nesmith’s Some of Shelley’s Blues and four Kenny Loggins songs including House at Pooh Corner, the first recordings of Loggins’s songs.

Later McEuen asked banjo ace Earl Scruggs and folk-blues guitarist Doc Watson if they would record with the group. Eventually, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, country pioneer Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Vassar Clements, Pete Kirby (Bashful Brother Oswald) and Norman Blake as well as Scruggs and Watson joined the NGDB in the recording of the seminal three-LP set, Will the Circle be Unbroken, (Liberty LWCL 51158).

Will the Circle be Unbroken has been noted as “the most important record to come out of Nashville” by Rolling Stone and “the most important record in country music” (ZAGAT Survey/2004).

John McEuen has made over 40 albums (six of which are solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold recognition awards, Grammy nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy nomination and a IBMA Record of the Year award. Also, he earned the Uncle Dave Macon Award for “excellence in preservation and performance of historic music.”

Of his solo recordings the 1990s look to have been the most productive with Acoustic Traveller (released in 1996) following String Wizards (released in 1991) and the Grammy nominated String Wizards II (1993).

The NGDB released two further albums in the Will the Circle be Unbroken series; Volume 2, in 1989, and Volume 3, in 2002. Volume 2 won the Country Music Association’s 1989 Album of the Year as well as three Grammys.

In addition to the cast of Will the Circle be Unbroken, he has performed and/or recorded with a long list of well-known names; Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Bill Wyman, Johnny Cash, Marshall Tucker Band, Steve Martin, The Smothers Brothers, Clint Eastwood, Phish, Crystal Gayle, Michael Martin Murphey, Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Leon Russell, Pete Seeger, Mary McCaslin, Jose Feliciano, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Andy Williams, Dizzy Gillespie and The Band included.

Beyond performing, McEuen has produced more than 300 concerts throughout his career (the first in 1965 in Long Beach California with Bob Dylan). In 2010 his production of The Crow – New Songs for the 5-string Banjo (for his lifelong-friend Steve Martin) won a Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album.

He is a member of the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.

In the press release, McEuen went on to say …

“It has been a great privilege to work alongside the others; together, we made history. After 50 years, the time has come for me to bid adieu to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band stage. I will move forward with great pride in my personal and musical contributions to NGDB and now can fully concentrate on my independent endeavors. I have much to do and many more creative ideas to pursue. Because of this relationship, I have more stories than you can shake a pick at. (…that will come later!).”

He is show host of the popular Acoustic Traveller radio show on Sirius/XM’s The Bridge (now in its eighth year) and he is the CEO of Syndicatednews.net, a music and political news website.

McEuen, already actually playing solo dates, enthused about what the future will bring ….

“I’m excited about my upcoming touring with my Deering Banjos which you can find online. A lot of beautiful performing arts centers and festivals are already booked! Many concerts will be multi-media shows – music and stories with historic footage from Will the Circle Be Unbroken. We feature some of the music from my new highly acclaimed Made in Brooklyn album (Stereophile magazine Record of the Month!). It is different every night. Some nights we will have special guests sitting in.

Thank you all for your years of support and I’ll see you down the road.”

He gave us a heads-up on what is McEuen’s memoir, The Life I’ve Picked: A Banjo Player’s Nitty Gritty Journey to be published by the Chicago Review Press in April 2018, offering an enticing titbit …

“… it is not about NGDB really, as much as the overall career, kids, life, and lots of background.”

John McEuen on WFDU

John McEuen will be a guest on today’s (10/30) edition of Lonesome Pine RFD, airing on WFDU-FM in the New York City metro market. The interview was conducted by host Carol Beaugard earlier this week, when John stopped by the WFDU studios on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson College in Teaneck, NJ.

Lonesome Pine RFD runs from 9:00 a.m. ’till noon (EDT), and the lengthy McEuen interview is set to air at 11:00. WFDU can be heard in NYC and surrounding areas at 89.1 FM, and worldwide via live streaming online.

Carol offers a preview…

“John takes us through the new CD by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Speed Of Life, song-by-song.

Throughout the hour there’s plenty of history shared on the early days of NGDB and John’s solo career.  He also talked about his friendship with Steve Martin since Steve was a teenager, and their work together on The Crow.”

The show will also be available for two weeks in the station’s audio archives after it airs, and will be rebroadcast on Monday (11/2) at 12:00 a.m. on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

Behind the scenes with the Dirt Band

Speed Of Life, the new CD from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, was released on September 22, distributed by Sugar Hill Records.

We’ll have an interview with the band’s “utility infielder,” John McEuen,  as a part of our IBMA Red Carpet coverage, which will be posted over the course of this week and next. McEuen was at IBMA last week to help promote the band’s new CD, and Steve Martin’s banjo CD, The Crow, which he co-produced with Tony Trischka and Pete Wernick.

John plays banjo, fiddle, mandolin and resonator guitar with the band, and is their most direct connection to the bluegrass world.

You can hear audio samples from Speed Of Life on the Dirt Band web site, and here is a behind-the-scenes video from the tracking sessions.

Several great radio options for Saturday

Here are three chances to catch some live bluegrass – and a live interview – via online radio Saturday (8/15).

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be featured in a special Saturday afternoon edition of Blue Plate Special on WDVX. This is a live performance program which typically airs Monday-Friday at noon from either the WDVX studio or the Square Room in Knoxville. This show, however, is a live remote from The Olde Mill Square in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Van Eaton & Friends will also appear, starting at noon. You can catch WDVX over the air at 102.9 FM in and around Knoxville, and online at wdvx.com.

WBRF in Galax, VA will have an interview with Lou Reid & Carolina during the 8:00 p.m. hour of their Blue Ridge Backroads show. Host Judith Burnette will have Lou and the band on hand to discuss their new CD, My Own Set Of Rules.

The station broadcasts at 98.1 in Galax and online at blueridgecountry98.com.

The Grand Ole Opry also has a number of bluegrass acts on the bill for Saturday night. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be on the show, along with The Infamous Stringdusters and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

Look for The Dirt band to highlight material from their upcoming CD, Speed Of Life.

The Saturday Opry runs from 8:00-10:00 p.m., broadcast on WSM AM 650 from Nashville, and online at wsmonline.com.

All times indicated are EDT.

Speed of Life from The Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has lifetime bluegrass street cred, even if they never even thought about bluegrass music again.

Their 1970 triple album, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, featured stellar guest performances by many of the stars and legends of bluegrass and traditional country music.

It was not only a spectacular critical and commercial success, but also served to introduce the music of Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff and Merle Travis to a young music audience that may have never discovered it otherwise.

Their recordings since have been geared more towards mainstream country, where they are often billed simply as The Dirt Band, though usually with a nod towards traditional acoustic American folk musics. They did release a second Circle project in 1989 and a third in 2002, both of which made the country album charts.

On September 22, they will have their first new CD in five years, Speed Of Life, released on their own NGDB label, distributed by Sugar Hill Records. It was co-produced by George Massenburg, a recording engineer in the truest sense of the word, and Jon Randall, an award-winning songwriter and Nashville musician. Massenburg not only pioneered the use of parametric equalization in audio recording, he has also produced hit recordings in pop, rock and country music. Randall brings experience in the bluegrass and acoustic world to the project, and has done co-writing with Jeff Hanna of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

The band’s bluegrass connection is cemented by banjo player John McEuen,who was in the news of late for his work with Steve Martin on The Crow, Martin’s first all banjo recording. The two are old friends, with a kinship partially forged by their mutual love of the old five string.

John spoke with us recently about the new project. We first wondered why this was the right time for a new releases after five years.

“The band knew enough songs finally! Well, really… it took a few years to jell as far as what we were looking for to express ourselves with new music, and it came together. When George Massenberg said he would produce, well, that was an unexpected compliment to our potential outcome. What a great thing, and I believe it made it the best NGDB effort in 15 years.”

Here’s a taste of one of the tracks, called The Resurrection (written by Matraca Berg and Alice Randall), which starts with the familiar harmonica of Jeff Hanna.

The Resurrection –  Listen now:    [http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/resurrection.mp3]

We also asked McEuen what he most liked about this new CD, and what he expected that the band’s many fans in the bluegrass world would enjoy.

“It is fresh.. I guess that is what I like about it, and the new songs are going over better live than we had even hoped for, as it is often the case for new songs that they do not. But not this time… seems like the ’70’s!

I would like to hear from the bluegrass folks what they get out of it in that regard. But for me, it was the NGDB showing how bluegrass influences can be applied to other types of songs… the instrumentation being used in different settings, like a lot of our recordings from the ’70’s showed.”

More audio from Speed Of Life should start showing up soon.

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