We didn't really try that hard to get them played on country radio. The last two hits we had - ‘American Dream’ and ‘Make a Little Magic’ - were pop hits, but they also charted on the country charts, which was kind of neat. Nevertheless, you were able to make a kind of crossover. We made it in Nashville, but back then, we didn't do a lot of recording down here. We made that record in ’71 and it came out in ’72. We came down here to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken. It seems like you needed to find a way to break into that scene. Meanwhile, country radio expanded their scope, so there were bands like Alabama coming up, who didn't sound incredibly different than the Dirt Band. And then it got to a point where, around 1980, pop music became so pop, that our music started feeling more country, at least as defined by some of the comments we were getting back from pop radio programmers. There weren't all the sub genres there are now. How were you situated when country and pop began to morph as far as radio and the record charts were concerned? So that's what we came out of and the only avenue radio-wise, as far as genre definition, was rock and roll. We were a part of that burgeoning, relatively new California country rock scene that included Poco and the Burrito Brothers. Bojangles’ and a couple of other songs charted on the pop charts. The first time we got any real serious airplay was in ’67, but in 1970, when the album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy came out, ‘Mr. We started off mostly doing rock and roll back in the 70s. How do you think the Dirt Band’s evolution has fit with Nashville’s own transition from classic country to the mainstream mantra the city seems to embrace now? I think most of us consider it our spiritual home. But Colorado is the place we’re identified with a lot. I love Tennessee obviously, I’m still here 35 years later.
As a result, he’s not only been witness to the changes that have overtaken Music City, but can also speak to the recognition NGDB have reaped as a result.Ĭonsidering your Rocky Mountain origins, do you consider yourself a Nashville native? Their current album, Dirt Does Dylan, finds them broadening their palette while also returning to their essential roots, courtesy of Dylan’s own archival origins.Īlthough the band was once based in Colorado and indelibly identified with that state, the elder Hanna himself and his wife, singer/songwriter Matraca Berg, have been Nashville residents since the mid 80s. Now, some 45 years later, the band is still going strong, with original members Jeff Hanna (vocals, guitar) and Jimmie Fadden (drums, harmonica) still at the helm, alongside newer recruits Bob Carpenter (keyboards), Jim Photoglo (bass), Jeff’s son Jamie (guitars, vocals) and Ross Holmes (fiddle, mandolin). Bojangles’, ‘American Dream’, ‘Make a Little Magic’ and ‘Fishin’ in the Dark’ among them. Wider acclaim would follow, courtesy of such mainstream hits as ‘Mr. The album that resulted, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, ranks as one of the most essential documents that defines the country music continuum, from its essential roots to the evolution instigated by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and their like-minded contemporaries including the Byrds, the Eagles, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, and the Grateful Dead.
By the late 60s, they had shifted their stance from that of jug band enthusiasts and forlorn folkies to codify a then-revolutionary crossover. The vast Rhino catalog of more than 5,000 albums, videos, and hit songs features material by Warner Music Group artists such as Van Halen, Madonna, Duran Duran, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Doors, Chicago, Black Sabbath, John Coltrane, Yes, Alice Cooper, Linda Ronstadt, The Ramones, The Monkees, Carly Simon, and Curtis Mayfield, among many others.In the surest sense, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band can lay claim to instigating modern Americana. Founded in 1978, Rhino is the world's leading pop culture label specializing in classic rock, soul, and 80's and 90's alternative. RHINO is the official YouTube channel of the greatest music catalog in the world. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in 1987.
You're listening to the official audio for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - "Fishin' In The Dark" from the album 'Fishin' In The Dark: The Best Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band'.