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McEuen, John

WR

JOHN MCEUEN

  • From Orange County, California. Lives in Aspen, Colorado.
  • Founding member of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
  • Began his show-business career at age 16 with comedian Steve Martin doing magic tricks at Disneyland. (John gave Steve banjo lessons during that time.)
  • Inspired musically by Doug Dillard (The Dillards).
  • Made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Nashville Now (TNN) which he has also hosted.Wrote the score for one feature film—”The Man Outside” with Levon Helm, as well as several NBC-TV specials.
  • 1976, produced the Grammy-winning Will the Circle Be Unbroken album (Capitol) featuring the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff and many other bluegrass and country music legends.
  • 1985, released first solo project John McEuen (Warner Brothers).
  • 1987, left the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to spend more time with his family and pursue other career opportunities.
  • 1989, produced a full-length documentary on the original Dillards called The Dillards: A Night in the Ozarks (Varese Sarabande).
  • 1991, released String Wizards album (Vanguard).
  • 1994, won “Best Traditional Western Album” (for John Mceuen Presents: The Music of the Wild West) at the Western Heritage Awards Show in Oklahoma City.
  • 1994, released String Wizards II (Vanguard). This album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
  • 1994, won the Uncle Dave Macon award for his role in preserving and performing historic music.
  • 1994, wrote and produced the music for “The Good Old Boys”, a TV movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek.
  • 1996, wrote an autobiography, titled The Dirt Road.
  • 1996, released Acoustic Traveller album (Vanguard).
  • 2001, re-joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to tour and record again.
  • 2005, released Round Trip: Live in L.A. album (Rural Rhythm).
  • 2010, won a Grammy Award as producer of Steve Martin’s “The Crow” album (Best Bluegrass Album).
  • 2012, released For All The Good album (Mesa Bluemoon) with his sons Jonathan and Nathan.
  • 2013, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Charlie Poole Music Festival.
  • 2017, was inducted into the National Banjo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
  • 2017, left the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band following the completion of their 50th anniversary tour.