MUSIC PREVIEW – Nitty gritty dirt man
John McEuen celebrates his 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band this year. He plays with his trio Live at the Lounge Jan. 28. Photo courtesy John McEuen The legendary John McEuen plays Live at the Lounge In 2009, musician John McEuen produced comedian Steve Martin’s “The Crow: New Songs for a Five-String Banjo,” a record that earned the two men a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. Students of Garden Grove High School and retail clerks at Disneyland in the 1960s, they shared a fascination with the banjo and took up studying the instrument in their late teens in one of the most unlikely locales: Orange County. “There’s just something about it [the banjo],” explains McEuen. “I just love the sound of the instrument and blending it into different types of songs. Usually people smile when you start playing a banjo.” McEuen became enamored of the banjo on one serendipitous evening at The Paradox in the city of Tustin. “Somebody dragged me to hear this group that I’d never heard of [the Dillards],” recalls McEuen. “Rodney Dillard walked up on stage and kicked off the show with ‘Banjo in the Hollow’ and I think my heart stopped. They were the perfect…
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