I walk down to the busted-up payphone. Pushing aside a shopping cart, I drop about 15 quarters into the cracked coin slot and dial. I take a look around at my grubby surroundings, pause, and get ready to interview The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.On the line is John McEuen, a founding member of The Dirt Band. Gold & Platinum records aside, this man has worked with everyone from Steve Martin to Johnny Cash to Phish, and seen it all. As an icebreaker, I ask what fans can expect on the BC-leg of band’s next tour.
“I know it’ll be better than the first time we played there, back in ‘67.” reminisces John. “We had a couple of Australian guys called the 2 From Down Under that opened for us. It was like a Las Vegas thing, in a club, and it wasn’t very much fun. The band was only a year old then and it wasn’t our best show, but fortunately it wasn’t our last show.”
I wasn’t at that gig in ’67, but I know a few lounge lizards who probably were. Over 40 years, the guys in this band must surely be sick of each other by now. John?
“Those assholes? You ever hear that comedian’s description of Thanksgiving? It’s the time when everybody gets together and remembers how much they hate each other,” he laughs. “I’d say there’s a constant amount of arguing that can happen, but it’s not like any of it is dire. Differences of opinion are allowed, and certain things you learn to tolerate. I think that’s probably the reason the group has stayed together.”
Peeling away the corner of the home-made “Press Pass” I always wear for courage, I ask John about his support staff.
“Our Road Crew is like 2 guys doing the work of 4, and getting the pay of 3.”
They even helped out when things got hairy in Atlanta. (See the Atlanta Festival Meltdown on www.johnmceuen.com)
“I told the Roadie, take the truck, don’t put any equipment in it, and park it next to the stage because I think this gig isn’t gonna happen. To get the 2nd half of the money from the promoter, I told him, look the truck is parked next to the stage and we’re not gonna unload it until we get paid.”
Promoter’s aren’t all bad, are they? I take a drag from my cigarette and listen while John ponders that question.
“You mean like the promoter in Wichita who came up to me and opened his briefcase that was full of crumpled 5’s and 1’s and said ‘Well I can count you off the 3 Grand from this or write you a check’. I, like everybody else he said that to, said ‘Write me a check, it’s okay.’ That check bounced like an NBA basketball, as did everyone else’s. Like any business, weird things happen and you hopefully learn from them. Experience comes from mistakes. That’s how you learn to handle things I guess.”
Now that’s Dirty. But the band trekked on. With all the accolades, awards, and critical success, these guys have a lot to celebrate, but not without trials and a lot of hard work.
“There have been a couple of years where nothing new came up, and you can kind of feel it dragging. I always believe that your last show better be your best one because it could be your LAST show. That’s what motivates us, putting in a good performance every time. You don’t want to have people say ‘well, I saw them last night, but they sucked’. We just rehearsed for 3 days straight. It’s something you gotta do.”
“So John, how do you keep things fresh?” I ask, swatting a fruit fly with my notepad.
“New material. The older songs get played with a new life when you cycle in some newer ones. Trying new things keeps it fresh, and even the classics get played with new energy. Try changing it up now and then and good things will happen.”
I thought about joining a writers group, working with other people on improving my material, but I never did. I’m somewhat of a recluse. Collaborating works for you John, do you think it could work for me?
“Do you shoot pool?” he asks.
“Uhh, yeah,” I mutter.
“If you’re playing a game of pool with somebody who’s really good, do you play better?”
“Well, yeah I suppose.”
“Same goes for music, or tennis or anything. If you’re playing with a bunch of so-so, mediocre guys, you’ll always just be at that level.”
Funny you should mention shooting pool. It’s one of the only positive memories I have of my Dad. He’d pick up my brother Derek and I at school, and take us down to the pool hall for lunch. Dad was usually too busy to spend time with us.
“It’s just the way it is. Sometimes, with my middle son, we talk about stuff like ‘I wish we’d just gone swimming more often or flown a kite or played pool’, because sometimes it’s work work work. But Jonathan and I, we bonded over music, and done about 1,000 shows together. We connected more and more as we got older."
Father and son, working side-by-side. There’s some sort of cosmic connection that most of us have never felt. Like you can read each other’s minds?
“We walked onstage last week and did an hour-and-fifteen minute show without any planning or talking about anything we were going to do. But because of all the stuff we’ve been through together, it worked fine.”
I spent the afternoon ‘browsing’ at the record shop, and I found this record called “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”. The cover had all those names in cursive writing. Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and of course the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It would have been a shame if that landmark album never happened. John remembers fighting tooth and nail with the record company.
“I remember when my brother and I went to the record company president to tell him what we wanted to do with the Circle ablum. He sat there listening, and he said, ‘Well I don’t think I’m gonna sell 5 of these. But since you guys are really so passionate about it, ok I’ll put up the money.’ Years later, that guy had moved way up in the music business. It was a risk, but the band came up to the mark together.”
Seems like a common theme with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; family. After a long haul from my pocket flask, fighting back thoughts of my boozebag father, I manage to get focused. John keeps talking. He’s telling me about an interesting high school friend of his, funnyman Steve Martin. John just produced a serious banjo album for Steve called ‘The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo’. How did that come about?
“You know, The Dirt band played the music for ‘King Tut’. Steve wasn’t confident that he was good enough, or that he had enough material for a whole album, but I convinced him he did. Today (Jan 27th) is the day it was released, actually. Right now it’s #1 on the Country Charts and #35 on the Pop Charts on Amazon.com.”
Seems like everything John McEuen touches turns to gold. “Your list of accomplishments is as long as the Mississippi.” I joke. Man, does my comedy routine ever need work. “I understand you have a satellite radio show. I’m a little out of touch. What’s a satellite radio?”
“It would be like if you were writing for a magazine in Florida instead of Vancouver. Or now you have to write a book about the influence of Casinos on American Indians, y’know? I’m basically doing things that I’ve done, playing music & talking, only now it’s in a different format that I’ve never experienced before. I like making a radio show, it’s a totally different animal. It’s in its 4th year now. The Acoustic Traveler Show, Channel 15 on XM Satellite Radio.”
Sounds futuristic… That’s something I don’t tend to think about too much, the future. When your biggest worry is how you’re gonna buy a bottle, it’s tough to plan ahead. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has me beat though.
“Everybody’s unified when it comes to getting the music out there, and especially with this new album. It’s finished, we’re not sure where it’s gonna go yet, but we have high hopes. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done in years, easily. We’re looking forward to getting it out there.”
The operator is prompting me to add more money to continue the call, but I’m afraid I’m a little light today. My last 2 quarters will get me about 45 seconds. (Actually, I have a crisp twenty in my back pocket, but that’s already reserved for a Mr. Johnny Walker).
In a mad dash, I ramble off about 15 questions, akin to “Why do you do it, what makes you jump out of bed in the morning, what is your proudest accomplishment? As time ticks away, John does his best to field all of my questions. I dive back into my pocket flask while he reels off the answers, proving that he has indeed done over 10,000 interviews in his life.
“Some people call me a music historian. Yeah, I know some things you don’t know. I don’t think that makes me a historian, though. I like acoustic instruments, and I wanted to see if I could get them on the radio. Whether it was banjo, mandolin or guitar. Early on, that was my main focus. When I played Mandolin on ‘Mr Bojangles’, I felt like I got lucky. It was only the 3rd song I’d learned. I wasn’t very good, I just did what was needed for the song. That’s a good example of the group. We just come together and see what happens. The rest is history I suppose.”
Winding up, I bid John best wishes with the tour, new album and his family.
“We’ll see you up there in Canada!” he says “We hope you like the new songs, and some of the old ones that have been revived. We promise we’ll play all the favourites too. Looking forward to it.”
I’ll do everything humanly possible to pull myself out of the gutter long enough to see The Nitty Gritty Dirt band this time around. If I knew where my dad was, I’d invite him along too.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been wowing audiences worldwide for over 42 years, 30+ albums and they’re still going strong! For more information on tour dates, band news and albums, I’m told you can check out www.nittygritty.com
*Note to the reader: Mike Ennison is a pseudonym; a character I created in order to try something new for this article. I know it's cheating, blurring the lines between fiction and non-fiction, but I assure you I didn't alter my interview subject's responses in any way.
I'd love to hear any feedback on this form of writing. It was very exciting for me and I'd love to do more of it, given the opportunity.
Thanks, Nathan Stafford
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