Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s John McEuen
& The String Wizards
Present
“Will the Circle be Unbroken”
Saturday, November 17, 2018 at 8PM at Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, NY
Join founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB), John McEuen and his cast of virtuoso musicians for a special night filled with the music and memories of the landmark platinum album Will the Circle Be Unbroken and the NGDB’s incredible career. McEuen’s multimedia show chronicles the band’s fifty year journey including: 8mm footage from the earliest days in 1967; stories from behind the Iron Curtain as the first American band to tour Russia in 1977; and vintage photos, footage and audio from the famed ‘Circle’ recording session. Such hits as “Mr. Bojangles” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” “Buy For Me the Rain” and “Dance Little Jean,” hot bluegrass, and rare early music, are interwoven throughout.
Fellow NGDB band members Les Thompson and John Cable, and guitar virtuoso Matt Cartsonis, all stellar musicians in their own right, join host John McEuen to share (in front of the screen) hits and stories leading up to this magical time when three generations came together to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Initiated by McEuen, the icons of Bluegrass, Country and West Coast Country Rock, including Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, and Maybelle Carter, convened for six hot days in August 1971, to produce the benchmark record that is just as relevant today (still an Amazon top-20 album)! The Library of Congress inducted the multi-platinum ‘Circle’ as one of the most important American recordings. ‘Circle’ is also in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame.
The journey concludes with music from McEuen’s new album, Made in Brooklyn, allowing the audience to experience the entire span of the artist’s incredible 50 years in music.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
John McEuen has had a long and varied music career, first solo, then as a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB) in 1966. Over 10,000 concerts and 300 television shows throughout more than 3 million miles, he has pursued his passion for performing and recording, creating, producing and preserving original and traditional folk and acoustic music, and taking it to new audiences.
McEuen has performed and/or recorded with: Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Bill Wyman, Johnny Cash, Marshall Tucker Band, Steve Martin, The Smothers Brothers, Rowan & Martin, Clint Eastwood, Phish, Crystal Gayle, Michael Martin Murphey, Hans Olson, Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Leon Russell, Kevin Nealon, Tom Chapin, Pete Seeger, Mary McCaslin, Vassar Clements, Jose Feliciano, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Andy Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, The Band, The Doors, Foreigner, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Robin Williams, Albert Gore, Robert Schimmel, Tom Petty, Stephen Wright, Little River Band, Air Supply, Doobie Brothers, Bill Cosby, Martha Redbone, Hootie and the Blowfish, the list goes on, and there are stories about all of them.
McEuen has made over 40 albums (7 solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold recognition awards, GRAMMY nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy nomination, IBMA record of the year award, and performed on another 25 albums as guest artist. He’s also produced another 7 albums, and 14 film scores (two Emmy nominated shows) and more than 300 concerts throughout his career – the first in 1965 in Long Beach California, with Bob Dylan.
In September of 2017 John was inducted in to the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. Arguably, McEuen’s most important legacy may be his initiating ‘Circle’, which Rolling Stone called “The most important record to come out of Nashville.”