John McEuen and Nitty Gritty Dirty Band part ways

[Mandolin Cafe]

Insert pun here: Circle no longer unbroken?

http://www.banjocafe.net/forum/conte...itty-Dirt-Band

[MikeEdgerton]

"In assessing the situation surrounding our performances, business disagreements and ongoing difference of opinions, the timing is appropriate for my departure. As a catalyst to my decision, in December 2015, I received confirmation from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Inc. that I was an 'employee' — no longer a member of the corporation that I helped to build," stated McEuen.

Damn.

[HonketyHank]

I wish him well. Have always liked his musicianship.

[Mark Gunter]

Big fan of the McEuen brothers. Sounds like John has a good line-up for his current projects. Hope he's really happy with his future, 50 years is a long time and with NGDB he's become a legend. All things must pass.

[jim simpson]

I thought John's reasons were very diplomatically phrased with little "dirt" being thrown. I'm sure he'll dust himself off and be fine.

[David L]

I caught one of his sets at Winfield this year. It was lively and entertaining. A great showman.

[Ryk Loske]

Looking forward to your future John with deep appreciation for what you have already done.
Thanks just doesn't cover it ... but Thanks,
Ryk

[Al Trujillo]

Great guy and great group! John's son Nate performs at various places and he's quite a talent himself

[Mandobar]

Nice, huh? Only an employee. Sounds too corporate for me. Although the Black Crowes seem to have had the same issues.

[J.Albert]

Fifty years is long enough to be a part of any band.

All the best to John in whatever endeavors he chooses now -- or just to pretty much ease back a bit towards retirement...

[UsuallyPickin]

The Dirt Band was the first band concert I ever saw. They broke into an alternative 50's rock band like alter ego group in the middle of the show..... They were a riot. I have enjoyed their music for decades. C'est la Vie. Fare thee well John and play on... R/

[Timbofood]

Band longevity is a delicate thing, I have been truly privileged to play with some guys for 42 years, three out of four of us changing bass players as dynamics and logistics required. Every one of the bass players brought something different to the sound, some more fun and long lived than others but, we are not “serious, high profile, touring acts” just friends. The differences in sound have been broad! One guy was an orchestrally trained “jazz” guy, with the most drive I have EVER played with, never have I had a bassist with the understanding of “Bluegrass Drive” than him. The guy with stunning tenor voice was a different one but, he had a family tradition of the music. It’s all been fun, all different, all friends! Maybe it’s a good thing that we never “made it” so no one felt too much like an employee of the corporation.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Tim - The bass fiddle player that i had with my band back in the late 1960's,was also a classically trained 'Jazz' bass player. He was the only 'real' musician in the band - the rest of us were 'buskers' !.

Re.John McEuen's position - he seems to have been slowly pushed out. To regard him as merely an 'employee' is disgraceful & degrading IMHO. I wonder is his 'solo projects' have done him a disservice over time & alienated him from the rest of the band ?.

Regardless,for me,he's a terrific musician,always has been & always will be,& i wish him the best of luck in his future projects !!,
Ivan

[Mark Gunter]

From John's blog, March of this year:

Such a year already!! and more good stuff ahead Posted 03/20/2017

The Wintergrass Festival was killer, and lot of great things happened. January was complete success, with great crowds and perfect venues for my 'solo' shows. The NGDB shows were good too, and I look forward to the others changing the set we have done for the past 8 years, as I know people would like that. I wish NGDB would play a couple more songs from Circle or a few of the classic cool old NGDB songs, but that is not the way they want to do it. That makes it even more fun for my other shows, as I get to cover a lot of what I think of as 'missing' songs.

[MikeZito]

You have to give the guy credit for sticking it out as long as he did. From reading his comments, I think it is a pretty safe bet that I would have bailed on the band a long time ago. McEuen will do fine in his future endeavors, while (like many other bands that have few or no 'classic' members in their lineup) the NGDB will continue to be just a shell of its former self.

[Dagger Gordon]

You've got to wonder how things got to this stage.

I would have thought at the very least that he would be one of the guys who decided what songs they would sing.

[Jeff Mando]

I've always liked those guys, especially John.

[AlanN]

Yeah; to me, the NGDB without John would be like The Dead without Garcia, The Stones without Jagger, The Allmans without Gregg...etc.

[allenhopkins]

Hope I can be forgiven for my unawareness that the band was still together and performing. They dropped off my radar long ago.

That being said, seems as if it would be a much different entity without John McE.

[jesserules]

Didn't he leave the band to concentrate on a solo career once before? From the mid 1980s till 2000 or so I think. It was more than ten years anyway, I'm pretty sure. Maybe the "employee" thing was a condition attached to his return to the band back then?

[TonyP]

Never was a big fan of NGDB, but have always been a fan of John. The most fun was when he'd do his "review" in the old Hanford Fox theater every year before Thanksgiving(or Christmas? been a while). It was often messy with John coming out and playing intermissions by himself. He is so full of all kinds of music I don't see how he'd be happy confined to some old tired set list fron long ago.

Bands are hard enough but when it becomes a brand/corporation I know I'd be looking for the door. That to me is the essence of phoning it in and I don't like those canned band tribute things.

Besides the knock to his pride John will be fine. He is an incredible performer and I'm glad he is moving on to do his thing and still has the juice to do it. I was afraid there was something wrong with his health. Turns out he was just too healthy to put up with the silliness.

[Chief]

John did leave the band before for several years. Then came back for several years. Ibby left a few years ago to stay in Colorado. I believe he still plays there, and joined NGDB at the Ryman a few years back for their 50th. I was at that show, and it was played on PBS for their spring fund raiser. It was incredible.Hard to imagine any band staying together for 50+ years with basically the same lineup. I think my record for band longevity is about 8 years.

[mandolindude04]

I'm glad I was able to see him perform at Red Rocks this past summer. I saw him perform several years ago at Broomfield High School as a benefit to help purchase musical instruments for their music program. I got one of his CD's afterward which he signed. At the Red Rocks show this past summer he put on a great show. He knows how to work a crowd, and he's an incredible musician. Jimmy Ibbotson came on stage and did a couple of tunes. I thought it was interesting that Jack Hanna was dressed to the nines with his brocade show jacket, and Jimmy came out on stage wearing work overalls like he'd just got off a construction site to play a couple of songs. I did a little reading on the internet, as it all seemed a little strange to me. My reading told me there's some personality conflicts with the musicians. I'm looking forward to reading John's book when it comes out next year.

[BillACK]

Seeing John "& Friends" Friday night in NH. It'll be interesting to see if he has anything to say about all this.