The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Will The Circle Be Unbroken: 30th Anniversary Edition - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the ultimate musical square peg defying all round holes, will be among the fourth class of inductees Sunday (April 20) in the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.

Also joining the 2008 class will be Steven Curtis Chapman, Merle Kilgore, Steve Wariner, Kirk Whalum and Hank Williams.

Gibson Guitar, founding sponsor of the Walk of Fame, and Great American Country, sponsor of the induction ceremony, will be hosts for the free event, which is open to the public. The ceremony, climaxing with the unveiling of commemorative sidewalk markers for the new inductees, starts at 3 p.m. in downtown Nashville’s Hall of Fame Park.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform on the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night preceding the ceremony.

It’s the umpteenth honor bestowed on the band, which celebrated the 40th year of its long and varied musical journey in 2007.

On the Dirt Band’s Web site, the group’s birth is actually listed from May-August 1966 with the original members hanging out at the famed McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Long Beach, Calif., “trying to figure out how not to have to work for a living.”

Members of the original group were Jeff Hanna, Jimmy Fadden, Ralph Barr, Les Thompson, Bruce Kunkel and Jackson Browne, who would go on to an illustrious solo/songwriting career with a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After recording a few albums and finding commercial success with the Jerry Jeff Walker classic, “Mr. Bojangles,” the group made music history in 1971 when its trek to Nashville yielded the three-album landmark release, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” It featured true pioneers of bluegrass and country music, including Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis and Jimmy Martin. It also exposed famous artists like fiddler Vassar Clements and national folk and old-timey music treasure Doc Watson to much larger audiences.

Roy Acuff’s version of “I Saw the Light” from the Cirle project landed on the country charts, and the album received two Grammy nominations.

Nitty Gritty went on to record versions Circle II and Circle III, but none held the pure creative magic of the initial project. Circle II, however, attained great commercial success, going gold in the United States and Canada, and winning three Grammys and the Country Music Association’s Album of the Year award in 1989. A video documentary, “The Making of Will the Circle be Unbroken II,” was also released on Cabin Fever Entertainment.

Around the Circle II era, the band become a consistent hitter in the Top 40 country market, a fact not warmly embraced by some fans who had hung around from the beginning. It also caused some dissension in the band’s ranks. John McEuen, who had joined the group shortly after its founding, departed in 1986 and stayed out of the lineup for 14 years.

The band has survived several other personnel comings and goings through its 40-year career, but has managed to hang on to key players.

According to www.nittygritty.com, the current lineup includes Jeff Hanna, McEuen, Jimmy Fadden and Bob Carpenter.

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The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Appears on the Saturday night Grand Ole Opry this weekend.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be making a rare appearance on the Saturday night Opry in conjunction with their induction in the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.

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Junior Sisk

After releasing a couple of new CDs last month, Rebel Records has several other projects in the works.

The label is preparing a new release by freshly signed artists Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice.

The Ferrum, Va.-based band consists of Sisk on guitar & lead vocals, Tim Massey on bass, Darrell Wilkerson on banjo, Chris Harris on mandolin and Billy Hawks on fiddle.

“I’ve always wanted to record for Rebel. Now I feel like I’ve found a home,” said Sisk, a veteran of touring bluegrass bands.

The straight-ahead, traditional bluegrass favored by the band is a perfect fit for the like-minded label, according to Mark Freeman of Rebel.

He described Sisk as “a strong singer with a solid band., and we’re looking forward to working with them.”

The upcoming album, produced by Ronnie Bowman and tentatively entitled “Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge,” is scheduled for a mid-summer release.

Look for two other Rebel releases next month; Dave Evans & River Bend will be featured on “The Best Of The Vetco Years,” which will be released May 6. Also on that date, Rebel will release a Larry Sparks collection: “The Best Of Larry Sparks: Bound To Ride.”

Last month, Rebel released a compilation of various artists entitled “Best Loved Bluegrass: 20 All-Time Favorites.”

It features Tony Rice, the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, The Country Gentlemen, Clair Lynch, Del McCoury, Mac Wiseman, the Boys from Indiana, Lonesome River Band, Emerson and Waldron, Ten Lundy & The Southern Mountain Boys, Lost and Found, Seldom Scene, Ralph Stanley, J.D. Crowe, Don Reno and Red Smiley, the Stanley Brothers, Keith Whitley and Rickey Skaggs, Dave Evans, Larry Sparks and Larry Richardson and Happy Smith.

Also out from Rebel last month is “2:10 Train,” featuring Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondie Klein.

Here’s a take on the CD from Rebel’s sister site, County Sales:

“A few years back the short-lived group Chesapeake came out with three interesting albums, which — though uneven — all contained some gems. Klein and Gaudreau were the major forces in that group, which also included Mike Auldridge and T. Michael Coleman.

“What Jimmy and Moondi are doing here as a duet is very reminiscent of the Chesapeake recordings, except the material is all well-chosen and appropriate to their style. Klein, who was lead singer for the Seldom Scene for awhile, has a good voice and a very distinctive manner of presentation, and he is complemented beautifully by Gaudreau’s tasteful mandolin playing and equally strong vocals.

“Offset by a couple of lovely slower pieces like Harley Allen’s “High Sierra,” the songs are mostly sprightly pieces that move along nicely … The music here is different, distinctive, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable.”

Here’s the track list:

1. Dreamer or Believer
2. The Last Thing on my Mind
3. High Sierra
4. Sweet Sunny South
5. Arkansas Traveler/Soldier’s Joy
6. And the Band Player ‘Waltzing Matilda’
7. Black Jack Davey
8. Colleen Malone
9. Evening
10. Dixie Hodedown
11. Any Old time
12. 2:10 Train
13. Shady Grove

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Dailey & Vincent(Rounder)

Nashville, Tenn. — Dailey & Vincent have debuted at #4 on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey album chart in the April 2008 issue with their self-titled album on Rounder Records. At the same time, the critically acclaimed disc has spent its seventh week in the top 5 on Billboard’s Top Bluegrass Albums chart, where it debuted at #2. On the Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 10 Bluegrass CD’s chart for April, Dailey & Vincent is at #2, and on the XM Bluegrass Junction Top 40 albums, it moves to #3 on the April chart (representing airplay during the month of March).

“By the Mark,” performed in brother duo style with only guitar and mandolin accompaniment, was a 4-week #1 on the Count Down Yonder Weekly Top 17 Songs of SIRIUS Bluegrass. In Bluegrass Unlimited, the track is at #28 on the song chart, while on the Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 20 Hot Singles for April, it is at #13. “Sweet Carrie” is another favorite track receiving healthy airplay, landing it this month at #10 on the XM Bluegrass Junction Top 30 Tracks chart, #12 on the Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 20 Hot Singles chart, and #17 on the Bluegrass Unlimited song chart.

This week Dailey & Vincent also earned Robert K. Oermann’s DISCovery Award in Music Row, where he wrote: “The woods used to be full of duo-led bluegrass bands. But The Osborne Brothers, Reno & Smiley, Jim & Jesse, The Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs are now all history. Dailey & Vincent have stepped into those legendary shoes. And they wear them very, very well.”

Nick Cristiano of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in a recent review of Dailey & Vincent, “Together, they carve out their own niche in the field with this bracing debut.”

Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent make their second guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on Friday, April 25. On April 26 they will join the Bill Gaither & The Homecoming Friends concert at Gwinnett Center Arena in Duluth, Georgia. For other Dailey & Vincent news and tour updates, please visit http://www.daileyvincent.com/ or www.myspace.com/thedaileyvincentband.

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