5/6/2007 John McEuen, Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ


 14 years ago today...

May 6, 2007 - Phoenix, AZ

John McEuen, bluegrass musician and founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, played a solo club concert at the Rhythm Room.
McEuen is the multi-instrumentalist who played banjo, mandolin, fiddle, accordion, piano and guitar for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, originally a hillbilly jug band which later found a blend of bluegrass, rock and country in the late 60s.
John gave high school friend Steve Martin banjo lessons and got the Dirt Band to be the backing band on Martin's "King Tut" music video.
McEuen is best known for recruiting bluegrass legends Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson to record with the NGDB. Landing these musicians gave the band the credibility to add Roy Acuff, Vassar Clements, Mother Maybelle Carter and Merle Travis to the effort. The end result was "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," a three-album masterpiece that brought notoriety to these artists and an overdue introduction to a new young audience. This classic is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the US National Recording Registry.
The Circle record was released in 1972 and digitally remastered 30 years later by McEuen for a double CD package with superior audio quality. John signed my copy after the show, a strong solo performance that was sparsely attended in a bar known for Blues.
McEuen is on the outs from the rest of the band, and wrote a book called "The Life I Picked" that details the band's history, the recording of the Circle album, and the internal feuds that led to his departure from the group he helped form.



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