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

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 combination of Flatt & Scruggs and the Smothers Brothers. In others words, they were funny and they played their own music.”

That night undoubtedly altered the course of McEuen’s life, but his pursuit in music hit an epiphanic proportion during one of his shifts at the Magic Shop on Disneyland’s Main Street.

“I heard Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Homeward Bound’ coming out of a Wurlitzer box and that’s what really kicked things into gear,” says McEuen. “I was very fortunate that I began making money playing music. I was teaching in a couple music stores and playing clubs around L.A.”

McEuen’s musical life as a key member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, solo musician, producer, and composer encompasses over five decades and more than 8,500 concerts with nominations (Emmy), awards (CMA, ACM, and Grammy), and inductions (Colorado Music Hall of Fame and Traditional Country Music Hall of Honor) bestowed along the way.

John McEuen, Steve Martin, and Jerry Garcia. Photo courtesy John McEuen

John McEuen, Steve Martin, and Jerry Garcia. Photo courtesy John McEuen

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (now simply called the Dirt Band) will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year — a group founded by a gang of Orange County kids who shared a profound curiosity of folk and bluegrass music.   

“I think one thing that has allowed this group to stay together for so long is that each guys knows when to shut up,” says McEuen, laughing. “And at various times, it’s about giving each member of the band a chance to play to their strengths and do their very best on stage.”

McEuen, who plays acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin, recently formed a trio with Craig Eastman and Matt Cartsonis.  Eastman and Cartsonis, who play the fiddle and sing, respectively, are also adept multi-instrumentalists, studio musicians, and composers within the Los Angeles music scene. Eastman, who began playing the violin at age three, honed his chops on the fiddle in the rugged and pristine landscape of northern Vermont, where he learned to play by ear among French Canadian fiddlers. Cartsonis began playing the guitar and mandolin at 14 and essentially became a professional touring musician at 16.

“Matt is one of the finest singers I know,” says McEuen. “Though he hails from Phoenix, he sings like he is from Kentucky — that high bluegrass lonesome sound with a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility.”

John McEuen Trio performs Jan. 28 at Live At The Lounge (presented by The Comedy & Magic Club), 1018 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; showtime 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25. 310-372-1193.

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