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John McEuen



Last Updated: 10/12/2009

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Status: Married
City: LOS ANGELES
State: California
Country: US
Signup Date: 4/12/2006

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Saturday, August 29, 2009 

Category: Music
ahhh..
the best room in town, I am told by many.. Looking forward to a nice evening of acoustic music (with some friends dropping in) along with the stories around both the songs and road life .. most of it true..
NGDB favorites and '...Circle Be Unbroken' music.. a great 'stretch out' night for me after a busy NGDB summer.. (and we have a new CD, Speed of Life, out Sept. 22)





As I am always being asked questions about banjo, music, NGDB, Circle album, film scoring I am going to take advantage of this nice room for a pre-show 7 pm workshop (banjo and guitar) and will demonstrate some playing 'tricks', recording techniques, and playing live tips.. along with discussions about film scoring and any questions you may have about both the Will the Circle Be Unbroken album or my recent production of Steve Martin - The Crow (nominated in 6 IBMA categories). This will all be covered by the price of a show ticket..


By Subway: 1 / 9 to Houston Street or Canal Street; C / E to Spring Street

By Bus: M20 downtown or uptown, M6 uptown, M21 crosstown

guests include David Amram (world's oldest beatnik), Jen Larson (singer/guitar), John Mark Fletcher (hot NYC banjo picker), Cynthia Sayer (4 string banjo ace).. and a few others
John McEuen
and some surprise guests sittin' in
Sept. 14
9:00 p.m.
The City Winery
155 Varick Street (between Spring and Vandam Streets)
New York 10013
(212) 608-0555 or info@citywinery.com

5:14 PM 
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Saturday, August 29, 2009 

Category: Music
PRESS RELEASE
                         John McEuen -
McEuen's recently produced music album Steve Martin - The Crow new songs for the 5-string banjo (all original music and lyrics written by Martin) was released on Rounder Records May 19. As producer John says, "People will be shocked at how vast and varied is music is, and how great he plays… this album shows Steve as a composer of unique melodies, hot licks and soulful lyrics.  He is definitely a songwriter with an unusual twist for notes and lyrics; in the 45 years I've known him, I've never heard him playing better.”

The album features such diverse contributing talents as Earl Scruggs, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tony Trishka, Hans Olson, Pete Wernick, McEuen, David Amram, Craig Eastman. Vince Gill duets with Dolly Parton on Pretty Flowers, Ireland's Mary Black sings Calico Train, Tim O'Brien sings Daddy Played the Banjo, and Steve sings Late for School.  For the 11 instrumentals and four vocals John brings together traditional folk instruments to Steve's world of notes where you hear influences from their mutual past  - Disneyland, The Music Man, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, and bluegrass - in way that “will take the music world by surprise”, says producer McEuen.

Recent appearances on Ellen,  American Idol, The Grand Ole Opry with Steve put the album in the top 20 in it's first week. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92W-xrLM8A

John also recently completed three documentary film music scores - “Sizzle - A Global Warming Comedy;” “Maynard Dixon - Art and Spirit”; “Howard's Trail” - that head to the festival circuit this year. Catch him performing solo in '09 (about 48 cities) or in his 43rd year with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (about 65 cities). Capitol Records recently released a remake of Mr. Bojangles by NGDB with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley!. The new NGDB album, Speed of Life, is due out by fall. Also, McEuen's XM radio show (Acoustic Traveller - ch. 15) is in its 4th year! (you can see John's early '70's wardrobe and the “…Circle…” banjo in Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
5:11 PM 
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Thursday, April 30, 2009 

Category: Music
Producer's notes.. on
Steve Martin - The Crow
new songs for the 5-string banjo

It has been 45 years or thereabouts that I have been listening to Steve play the banjo. We both started about the same week, in the mid-'60's music haze found in Garden Grove, California, during our years working in the Disneyland Magic shop. One day at my house.. well, it was my parents' house..  during the summer of '64, my brother Bill had a friend of his over playing music. (Dave Simpson, then owner of the Long Beach McCabe's Guitar Shop) Dave was playing his RB 150 banjo.. He 'kind of' knew Jesse James, Jed Clampett, Hard Ain't it Hard.. and Cripple Creek. It was the best sound we'd ever heard.
I remember Steve asking him  “just how much is a good, used.. cheap banjo, anyway?” Well, Steve ended up buying that banjo from him, and I think you'll agree, when you hear the Clawhammer Medley on the album, it was a smart move. It records GREAT.

Steve had started working on his own jobs at about 10 years old (selling guide Books in Disneyland, then when I met him as stock boy in Adventureland, then we both got jobs at the Magic Shop), and as with everthing since then, he paid cash for that banjo.. and the immaculate white '57 Chevy he drove in high school.

Dec. 19 that year, my 18th birthday, a begged for gift from my father appeared. I had my first banjo, a Ludwig, and started my career as a groupie for the Dillards… I averaged seeing at least 6 -7 of their shows a month, watching Doug like a hungry hawk. I remember showing Steve during that year Dillard (Back Porch Bluegrass), Keith (Livin' On the Mountain), and Scruggs licks (Original Sound and Foggy Mountain Banjo) I was picking up from slowing down those records to 162/3  and from watching Douglas…  about half way through he would go his own way. Soon, a couple years later, his own way led to his own tunes, and the ones he came up with often made me jealous. That was then.

Over the ensuing years, every now and then, he would say, “hey, listen to this new tune”, and once more he had come up with a new statement for the banjo. Now, “only 45 years later”, there are enough for a whole album. Instead of jealous, I am the proud producer of what I think is the best album of new music for the 5-string banjo in 45 years, and that includes my own albums!

I went to several different musical worlds to frame his notes and found, that like his film and book works, there were many different frames that seemed appropriate.  I was able to use almost every recording technique I have picked up from doing film scoring - from arranging to recording in advance for something to go along with something else that hasn't been done yet or conceived yet. . . and it all worked out. 

The Calico Train, starting as an instrumental, just sounded Irish to me. I told Steve to get the coming lyrics to reflect those influences. He did. As Mary Black is one of Steve's favorite singers, I emailed Joe in Dublin (her husband/manager) about our hope to have her sing Steve's song. After she heard a rough version she jumped on board, and on the way back from Dublin, three weeks later, I felt like that dream had come true. I hope you like it as much as we do, and find lots of ear cookies in it. It is one of my favorite recordings I have ever made. Slamming my guitar in open tuning with my fiddle bow and bowing it was really fun.. a new sound.

Since the decision to make Calico longer came in after it was recorded as an instrumental, and because the slow rubato part was led by Steve's banjo.. I had a lot of doctoring to do on the front.. I had Stuart play along with Steve's performance on the basic, the first slow part. Then took out all the basic track instruments from this slow part.. I had to do that because now the banjo slow did not seem to fit.. and when used there was too much leakage from the other instruments.
I made drone sounds with hammering on open tuned guitar and mandolin, bowing my guitar in G tuning, and then in Ireland adding bagpipe drone D, and later overdubbed electric bass. Since there was SO MUCH leakage on all the mics, getting rid of the basic tracks instruments for this part of the song was also necessary because Mary's voice just did not sound good in the slow part with the banjo plinking away, and the original track parts did not fit the vocal no one knew was going to be there when we cut the basic.. but it worked against the mournful fiddle of Stuart. Then .. when the tempo picks up.. it is 'all skate', and everything is fine. Overall, I feel like this is one of my of recording, arranging, playing and producing high points.

Pitkin Co. Turnaround Steve and I had played for years, even once in the '70's on 'the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson' (but it was starring Steve that night), and it got knocked out quick as a double banjo tune. Again, one I wish I had written. The great Chris Caswell and I had so much fun with his three song overdubs it made it sound like some of these songs were written for his keyboard talents. Chris's accordion nestles nicely in the rhythm section. Brittany played a solo on this, as did Russ and Matt, that just like with their other solos on the album, showed they are masters at their craft.

A great team had been assembled with hot licks waiting, and thanks to Tony and Pete for getting many things together for the basic sessions to start in Englewood, New Jersey, at Bennett Studios last July.  We didn't have to wait long, as we cut 15 tracks in 4 busy days. I then did overdubs in Nashville and Dublin.. and my studio in Hollywood.. mixed a lot at my place, and then at Nick Sevilla's. I had previously worked with Nick many times, and thought he would be the perfect engineer for this. I was right.

Tony and Steve 'killed the Crow', and 16 year old Jourdan jumped right on top of Banana Banjo. You can find out about the incredible Jourdan Urbach on his website.. just google him. I saw Jourdan at a Carnegie Hall concert last November and went backstage to meet him. He was performing some classical pieces with the symphony, the field his music is in, featuring that night a three-part piece Chris Caswell had written for him. I asked him if he would like to play on this cut, and a couple days later we got it done. I wanted to orchestrate Banana Banjo since first hearing it, because I think banjo can reach a broader audience if it has sounds familiar to others, and it lent itself to this 'bigger' treatment. And, that again is where the genius of Chris came in. He caught it good with his orchestra, then I plugged in Jourdan, stretched the song from 1:02 to 2:15.. and was shocked about how well it worked.
This was Jourdan's first recording session.

In Nashville Oct. '08 Stuart Duncan filled some missing spaces; Jerry Douglas fluxed his way in and put his icing on this Steve cake; Kenny Malone (as much fun to watch as to listen to) kept it moving in the percussion way only he can. Dolly and Vince came to the table and left us with a 'classic old country song', weaving a duet that shows Steve can write 'country'. (I tested this on several astute old-country ears, and they were shocked they had not heard this 'old song', the lyric of which was finished about an hour before it was sung, and surprised to find out the songwriter).

My great friend in music, David Amram, gave many of these songs his im-pick-able worldview, and Tim O'Brien made it sound like his Daddy Played the Banjo. It made my son Andrew cry when he heard this sad song. Tim had a cold the first day, but came in a second time without a fever but hot, and killed it right off. Gary Scruggs gave his vocal guidance that session to this song he co-wrote with Steve, and Tim nailed it.

As we recorded, things would happen. As when Steve wanted to write lyrics for a cool frailing instrumental - Late For School (frailing, like 'nother', is not in the dictionary, but that is a whole nother thing). That 2 _ min song became 3:50 or so, and will set a new mark for most words in one bluegrassy song. Thanks to my protools working well, and a couple years of practice with it for my XM radio show, several things were sewn together.

Going to Capitol Records (the famous round building in Hollywood) for their echo was exciting. They have the best chambers in the world, and as Steve allowed me to work with his actor budget instead of a banjo budget, we went there and got it done. Listen for that sound when Dolly sings 'you' at he end of a sentence. or the last word of any lyric. I used the studio where we (ngdb) did our first Hollywood audition in (1966.. they passed on us. . . but we ended up on Liberty, which years later was bought by UA, then Transamerica, then Capitol bought UA from them) to get that magic echo. Nick also used up everything he had learned, and kept all this in line.

It has been great getting some of my favorite pickers together and laying in to music that I think will stand the test of time. I truly feel that if I was starting now to play, I would spend time slowing down this record to figure out Pitkin Country, and just what are those cool chords climbing up the neck a la Don Reno on Banana Banjo, as well as several of the other tunes. Don't have to now! Tony is writing a book of all the tunes tabbed out! Did I mention Tony's killer banjo harmonies on Wally on the Run? oh, never mind.. he is always good, but this is a high mark for him.

Pete played a solo that was so good on Words Unspoken I wanted him to sell it to me so I could call it mine. His Pretty Flowers backup was great too.. he takes it after the Steve's opening, then bows out of the way for Earl to come in. Overall, we came.. we picked.. We conquered .. and as we attacked all these songs written by Steve it became apparent that he is a musician disguised as an actor.

This is an album I think you will want to stick in your ears many times. It will take you back to a place you've never been . . . it has me, and I was there.

John McEuen
www.johnmceuen.com
Producer, Steve Martin - The Crow
Rounder Records
2009
Currently listening:
The Crow New Songs for the 5-String Banjo
By Steve Martin
Release date: 2009-01-27
2:56 PM 
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009 

Current mood:  excited


                         John McEuen -

McEuen recently finished producing an album of his lifelong friend, actor Steve Martin.  With all original music and lyrics written by Martin- released date Jan. 27, 2009 - John says, "The Steve album is great! People will be shocked at how vast and varied is music is, and how great he plays… this album will show Steve as a composer of unique melodies, hot licks and soulful lyrics.  He is definitely a songwriter with an unusual twist for notes and lyrics; in the 45 years I've known him, I've never heard him playing better. I am working with the Chaplin of our era”

Titled Steve Martin - The Crow new songs for the 5-string banjo (11 instrumentals and four vocals), the album features such diverse musician talents as Earl Scruggs, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tony Trishka, Pete Wernick, McEuen, David Amram, Craig Eastman. Vince Gill duets with Dolly Parton on Pretty Flowers, Ireland's Mary Black sings Calico Train, Tim O'Brien sings Daddy Played the Banjo), and Steve sings Late for School.  John brings together traditional folk instruments to Steve's world of notes where you hear influences from their mutual past  - Disneyland, The Music Man, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, and bluegrass - in way that “will take the music world by surprise”, says producer McEuen.
Prior to 'street release' this is an Amazon exclusive until May 1.

John also completed three documentary film music scores - “Sizzle - A Global Warming Comedy;” “Maynard Dixon - Art and Spirit”; “Howard's Trail” - that head to the festival circuit this year. He
hit the road performing solo in '08 (48 cities) and in his 43rd year with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (42 cities). Capitol Records just released a remake of Mr. Bojangles by NGDB with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley!. Also, McEuen's XM radio show (Acoustic Traveller - channel 15) begins its 4th year.

This year you can catch John McEuen on the road (with banjo, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin) with his highly acclaimed solo performances or out with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He brings to his solo stage songs from road years and recordings, including early NGDB tunes and the historic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album (you can see some of his early wardrobe and the banjo used on that historic recording in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit) and from his own CDs on Rural Rhythm Records and Vanguard Records.
                              Check it all out at www.johnmceuen.com
Currently listening:
The Crow New Songs for the 5-String Banjo
By Steve Martin
Release date: 2009-01-27
2:13 AM 
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009 
Producer's notes …..on
Steve Martin - The Crow
new songs for the 5 string banjo

It has been 45 years or thereabouts that I have been listening to Steve play the banjo. We both started about the same week, in te mid-'60's music haze found in Garden Grove, California, during our years working in the Disneyland Magic shop. One day at my house my brother Bill had his friend over laying music. (Dave Simpson) Dave was playing an RB 150.. he knew Jesse James, Jed Clampett, Hard Ain't it Hard.. and Cripple Creek. It was the best sound we had ever heard. I remember Steve asking then this music store owner (Dave owned the Long Beach McCabe's Guitar Shop) “just how much is a good.. used.. cheap banjo, anyway?” Well, Steve ended up buying that banjo from him, and I think you'll agree, when you hear the Clawhammer Medley on the album, it was a smart move. It recorded GREAT..

By Dec. 19 that year I had my first banjo, a Ludwig (my 18th birthday), and started my career as a groupie for the Dillards… well, I did average seeing at least 6 -7 shows of theirs a month, watching Doug like a hawk. I remember showing Steve that following year Dillard, Keith, and Scruggs licks I was picking up from slowing down records …  about half way through he would go his own way. Soon a couple years later his own way led to his own tunes, and the ones he came up with often made me jealous. That was then. Over the ensuing years every now and then he would say “hey, listen to this new tune”, and once more he had come up with a new statement for the banjo. Now, “only 45 years later”,  there are enough for a whole album. Instead of jealous, I am the proud producer of what I think is the best album of new music for the 5 string banjo in years.

I went to several different musical worlds to frame his notes, and found that, like his film and book works, there were many different frames that seemed appropriate. The Calico Train, starting as an instrumental, just sounded Irish to me. I told him to get the coming lyrics to reflect those influences.. he did. As Mary Black is one of Steve's favorite singers, I emailed Joe in Dublin (her husband/manager) about Steve's hope to have her sing his song. On the way back from Dublin three weeks later I felt like that dream had come true. I hope you like it as much as we do, and find lots of ear cookies in it. It is one of my favorite recordings I have ever made.

Since the decision to make it longer came in after it was recorded and the slow part was led by Steve's banjo.. I had a lot of doctoring to do on the front.. I had Stuart play along with Steve's rubato kind of performance on the basic, the first slow part.. Then took out all the basic track instrumemts from this slow part.. I made drone sounds with hammering on open tuned guitars, bowing my guitar in G tuning, and adding bagpipe drone D in Ireland.. I had to do this because Mary's voice just did not sound good in the slow part with the banjo plinking away.. but worked against the mournful fiddle of Stuart. Since there was SO MUCH leakage on all the mics, I had get rid of the basic tracks instruments for this part of the song.. Then .. when the tempo picks up.. it is all skate and everything is fine. Overall, I feel like this is (if I have any, that is) one of my 'masterpieces' of recording.

Pitkin Co. Turnaround is one Steve and I had played for years, even once in the '70's on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, and it got knocked out quick as a double banjo tune.. again, one I wish I had written. The great Chris Caswell and I had so much fun with his three overdubs it made it sound like some of these were written for his keyboard talents. Brittany played a solo on this, as did Russ and Matt, that just like their others on the album showed they are masters at their craft.

But that all came about because a great team had been assembled with hot licks waiting, thanks to Tony and Pete for getting things together for the basic sessions to start in Englewood at Bennett Studios last July.  We didn't have to wait long, as we cut 15 tracks in 4 busy days in New Jersey. I then did overdubs in Nashville and Dublin.. and a little in my studio in Hollywood.. and mixed a lot at my place and then at Nick Sevilla's. I have worked with Nick several times, and thought he would be the perfect engineer for this.. I was right.

Tony and Steve 'killed the Crow', and 16 year old Jourdan jumped right on top of Banana Banjo. You can find out about the incredible Jourdan Urbach on his website.. just google him. I saw Jourdan at a Carnegie Hall concert in November and went backstage to meet him. He was performing some classical pieces with the symphony, the field his music is in, also featuring that night a three-part piece my friend Chris Caswell had written for him. I asked him to play on this cut, and a couple days later we got it done.. I wanted to orchestrate Banana Banjo, because I think some of this kind of music can reach a broader audience if it has these kinds of sounds.. and that is again where the genius of
Chris Caswell came in. He caught it good with his orchestra, then I plugged in Jourdan, stretched the song from 1:02 to 2:06.. and am shocked about how it worked.


Pete played a solo that was so good on Words Unspoken I wanted him to sell it to me so I could call it mine. His Pretty Flowers backup was great too.. he takes it after the Steve opening, then bows out of the way for Earl to come in. Overall, we came.. we picked.. we conquered .. and as we attacked all these songs written by Steve it became apparent that he is a musician disguised as an actor.

Stuart Duncan filled any missing spaces, Jerry Douglas fluxed his way in to put his icing on the Steve cake, Kenny Malone kept it moving in the way only he can. Dolly and Vince came to the table and left us with a classic old country song (I tested this on several astute old-country ears, and they were shocked they had not heard this 'old song', which lyric was finished about an hour before they sang).

My great friend in music, David Amram, gave many songs his im-pick-able world view, and Tim O'Brien made it sound like his Daddy Played the Banjo. It made my son Andrew cry when he heard this sad song. Tim had a cold the first day, but came in a second time hot, and killed it right off.

As we recorded things would happen, like when Steve wanted to write lyrics for a cool frailing instrumental - Late For School (frailing, like 'nother' is not in the dictionary, but that is a whole nother thing). That 2 _ min song became 4:40 or so, and will set a new mark for most words in one bluegrassy song. Thanks to my protools working well and a couple years of practice with it for my XM radio show, several things were sewn together.

Going to Capitol Records (the famous round building in Hollywood) for their echo was exciting. They have the best chambers in the world, and as Steve allowed me to work with his actor budget instead of a banjo budget, we went there and got it done. Listen for that sound when Dolly sings 'you' at he end of a sentence.. or the last word of any lyric. I used the room I did my first Hollywood audition in (1966 with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.. they passed on us. . . but we ended up on Liberty, which years later was bought by UA, then Capitol bought UA) to get that magic echo. All this was kept in line by Nick, who used up everything he had learned, I think.

It has been great getting some of my favorite pickers together and laying in to music that I think will stand the test of time. I truly feel that if I was starting now to play, I would spend time slowing down the record to figure out Wally on the Run and just what are those cool chords climbing up the next a la Don Reno, as well as several of the other tunes. Don't have to now! Tony is writing a book of all the tunes tabbed out! Did I mention that Tony's harmonies on Wally on the Run .. oh, never mind.. he is always good, and this is a high mark for him.

This is an album I think you will want to stick in your ears many times. It will take you back to a place you've never been . . . it did me, and I was there.

John McEuen
www.johnmceuen.com
Producer, Steve Martin - The Crow
Jan. 12, 2009

More information about John can be found on his website.
Please check out his stories and NGDB info there.
6:08 AM 
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Saturday, January 10, 2009 
PRESS RELEASE

John McEuen -
In another busy year, John completed three documentary films music scores (“Sizzle - A Global Warming Comedy;” “Maynard Dixon - Art and Spirit”; “Howard's Trail”), went on the road solo (about 48 cities) and in his 42nd year with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (42 cities). Also, Capitol Records just released a remake of Mr. Bojangles by NGDB with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley!. And, McEuen's XM radio show (Acoustic Traveller - channel 15) begins its 4th year.

Last summer McEuen produced an album for his lifelong friend, actor Steve Martin.  All Martin's original music and lyrics - for release in 2009 - John says "the Steve album is great! People will be shocked at how vast and varied is music is, and how great he plays… this album will show Steve as a composer of unique hot licks and soulful lyrics.  He is definitely a songwriter with an unusual twist for notes and lyrics; and, in the 45 years I've known him, I've never heard him playing better. I am working with the Chaplin of our era”

Martin's album (a dozen instrumentals and four vocals) features such diverse musician talents as Earl Scruggs, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tony Trishka, Pete Wernick, McEuen, David Amram, Craig Eastman. Vince Gill duets with Dolly Parton on Pretty Flowers, Ireland's Mary Black sings Calico Train, Tim O'Brien sings Daddy Played the Banjo), and Steve sings Late for School.  John brings together traditional folk instruments to Steve's world of notes where you hear combined influences from their mutual past  - Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, The Music Man, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, and bluegrass - in way that “will  take the music world by surprise”, says producer McEuen.

You can catch John McEuen on the road (with banjo, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin) for his highly acclaimed solo performances or with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He brings to his solo stage songs from road years and recordings, including early NGDB tunes and the historic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album (you can see some of his early wardrobe and the banjo used on that historic recording in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit) and from his own CDs on Rural Rhythm Records and Vanguard Records. 

               Check it all out at www.johnmceuen.com
11:48 PM 
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008 

Current mood:  artistic
Category: Music

John McEuen - 2008


In the midst of another busy year, John will have finished the music score for  three documentary films (Sizzle - A Global Warming Comedy; Maynard Dixon - Art and Spirit; The Last Cowboy), and can be seen on the road either solo (about 48 cities) or in his 42nd year with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (42 cities - and Capitol Records just released a remake of Mr. Bojangles by NGDB with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley!). McEuen's XM radio show (Acoustic Traveller - channel 15) begins its 4th year.

This summer McEuen also started producing an album for his lifelong friend, actor Steve Martin. Of Martin's all original music - for release in 2009, John says "the Steve album is coming along great! People will be shocked at how vast and varied is music is, and how hot he plays… this album will show Steve as a composer of unique hot and soulful music, and as a songwriter with an unusual twist for lyrics. And, in the 44 years I've known him, I've never heard him playing better."

Martin's yet to be titled album (a dozen instrumentals and three vocals) features such diverse talents as David Amram, McEuen, Tony Trishka, Pete Wernick, Craig Eastman (Vince Gill dueting with Dolly Parton and Tim O'Brien sing two songs, and Steve even sings one); it is hard to pigeonhole as to 'style'. John brings Americana folk traditional instruments to Steve's world of notes where you will hear strains that combine influences from their mutual past  - Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, The Music Man, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, and bluegrass - in way that "will  take the music world by surprise", says producer McEuen.

This fall you can catch John McEuen on the road (with banjo, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin) for his highly acclaimed solo performances. He brings to his stage songs from years on the road and recording, including many NGDB tunes from the early years and the historic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album (you can see some of his early wardrobe and the banjo used on that historic recording in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit) and from his own CDs on Rural Rhythm Records and Vanguard Records.

Check it all out at www.johnmceuen.com

Currently listening:
String Wizard's Picks: The Best Of John McEuen
By John McEuen
Release date: 1997-04-29
9:41 PM 
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Saturday, October 20, 2007 

Category: Music
John McEuen

Released June of '07 - a special Sesame Street DVD - Children's Favorite Country Songs; McEuen sings and plays Oh, Susannah with 50 goats and a cow and two dozen kids (human ones)! Also featured are Lee Ann Womack, Tim McGraw, Allison Krauss, Garth Brooks and others.

The Music of the Wild West - This 'soundtrack' album won John the Western Heritage Award and is recently released (June/2007) on Varese/Sarabande label. John calls it "the Will the Circle Be Unbroken of 1890." (McEuen has created music scores for 11 film projects, including the Emmy nominated 10-hour mini-series The Wild West for Warner Bros., from which he made this CD)

To be released this winter: the live Las Vegas concert with Phish, recorded in '98.. featuring John as a guest musician on many cuts jamming along with Les Claypool (Primus) and others.

McEuen recently finished the score for the documentary Maynard Dixon - Art & Spirit. It is heading to the festivals this season. (he also did the voice for Frederic Remington!)

John's highly acclaimed XM radio show - Acoustic Traveller - (channel 15), is now in its 3rd  year.

Also on Varese/Sarabande is the documentary film, produced and directed by John, shot with 5 cameras and live music The Dillards - A Night In the Ozarks, capturing his early mentors at their best.

McEuen is the only California musician to perform solo on the Grand Old Opry, then play it several times with his band, and be a featured guest with several of the Opry member acts - and recorded with the Nashville's Country music creators, and had records in the pop and country charts. He instigated what Rolling Stone (in 1972) called "The most important record to come out of Nashville" and what the 2004 ZAGAT survey called "the most important record in country music" - Will the Circle Be Unbroken - and in 2006 was named by CMT as one of the 40 most important albums in Country Music.

John has made over 40 albums (6 solo) that have earned 4 platinum and 5 gold recognition awards, Grammy nominations, CMA and ACM awards, Emmy nomination, IBMA record of the year award. Performed on another 25 albums as guest artist.
Currently listening:
Acoustic Traveller
By John McEuen
Release date: 20 February, 1996
6:06 PM 
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