SEEING JOHN McEUEN

John McEuen was born December 19, 1945 in Oakland, CA.  He began playing banjo at age 17 and later learned guitar, fiddle and mandolin. McEuen is an American folk musician and founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He joined the band in 1966 after Jackson Browne left the group. In June of 1973 they gave us the album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which featured Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis and Maybelle Carter.  It was gold. A few years later they would become the first American band to tour the Soviet Union.  He has won numerous awards over the years. McEuen gave banjo lessons to Steve Martin in high school.  That friendship continues today.   The two friends won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2009 for The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo. McEuen left the band for a solo career from 1991-1997 and return to the Dirt Band in 2001, but leaving again in 2017.  Today he tours playing his favorite Dirt Band songs giving you the stories behind the songs accompanied with stills shown on a large screen behind the band.  Perhaps McEuen's most important legacy, and what some call the most important record out of Nashville is Will the Circle Be Unbroken.  He brought this performance to The Historic Masonic Theatre in Clifton Forge, VA along with his band The String Wizards (Les Thompson, Matt Cartsonis and John Cable) on November 12, 2017.  I was there. I was seated orchestra left, seat 1 in the loge, which placed me closest to the band of anyone else in the room. Boone was the 2nd closest. Awesome.