Pioneering Nitty Gritty Band returns to Lexington for one final show

In discussing the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s decision to pack things in as a touring attraction, one co-founding member, Jeff Hanna, defers to a three-word explanation offered by the only other holdover from the group’s original starting lineup, Jimmie Fadden.

“It’s like Fadden always says,” Hanna said. “Do the math.”

Alright then. Here is how everything adds up for the pioneering Americana, country, rock and everything-in-between troupe: a career history spanning nearly 60 years and over 30 albums, a legacy as a performing band for almost as long and critical/commercial popularity that has seen multi-generational fanbases in rock, pop and country circles.

Throw in three Grammy Awards, and that history becomes even more luminous.

Hanna, though, has another three-word reason for why the Dirt Band’s current tour, which plays the Opera House on April 10, will be its last.

“Aches and pains. There’s a point where Father Time starts to affect the way we sing and play, although most folks wouldn’t hear it. But we know it. Four of our guys onstage are all getting the senior discount these days.

“One of the things that’s important to point out here, though, is that we’re not done. We’re just getting off the bus. The idea of being on the bus for 120 days a year... we’re kinda happy about that slowing down. Way, way down.

“Listen, I’m not going to complain about the hand we’ve been dealt with this band. We’ve managed to play through however many decades it’s been with amazing changes in music and the music business. To be able to go out there and play our tunes for folks who have been extremely gracious and generous as fans embracing our band... I mean, we’re super lucky.”

Celebrating the music the Dirt Band is most recognized for depends on what era brought you the group over its six-decade journey.

For many, it was the country, rock and bluegrass blend that turned its 1970 version of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles” into a hit and its 1972 album “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” into a classic cross-generational roots music primer.

For others, it may be the more pop-directed, radio-friendly title tunes from 1979’s “An American Dream” and 1980’s “Make a Little Magic” albums, aided by Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson, respectively.

Or it could the more overtly country path taken as the ‘80s progressed with a parade of chart-topping singles like “Dance Little Jean,” “High Horse” and “Fishin’ in the Dark.”

But for Hanna and Fadden, the journey began in Southern California with the Dirt Band operating as a homey jug band with an initial lineup that included — for a few months, anyway — a then-novice songwriter by the name of Jackson Browne.

“Everything is new when you’re a teenager,” Hanna said. “That’s the best part. Jackson was there for a very brief amount of time, for the first four or five months. But we recorded, like, six or seven of his songs over the first couple of records. (Banjoist, fiddler, mandolinist and lap steel guitarist) John McEuen came in and took Jackson’s place. What we got there was an unbelievably charismatic instrumentalist who, at that point, was perfect for our band. That served John and us well for a very long time (McEuen would remain with the Dirt band through 2017).

“We were all driving around the country in rental cars. Because we were a jug band, everything fit in the back. It was pretty heady stuff for a bunch of kids.”

A change of musical style and fortune came with the enlistment of McEuen’s older brother William as producer for a series of albums rolled out between 1970 and 1976 that would take the Dirt Band into deeper reaches of both traditional and progressive American music.

“Will the Circle be Unbroken” served as a centerpiece of the era, but that slice of the group’s history is perhaps best reflected in three successive studio albums encompassing innovative hybrids of folk, country, bluegrass, rock and more – 1970’s “Uncle Charlie and his Dog Teddy” (which contained “Mr. Bojangles”), 1971’s “All the Good Times” and 1975’s “Symphonion Dream.”

“What separated the Dirt Band from the pack on ‘Uncle Charlie’ - meaning acts like Poco or the Burritos (The Flying Burrito Brothers), who were the other two bands in that sort of game of California country-rock bands — was that we skewed a little more towards bluegrass by having five-string banjo as a serious part of what we were doing.

Occasionally, John would also be on mandolin and fiddle. I played acoustic and electric guitar, washboard and drums. Fadden played drums and harp but was a great lead guitar player, too. In fact, Jimmie, who hardly ever plays the guitar onstage, showed me about two-thirds of what I know. And then Jimmy Ibbotson (long time Dirt Band bassist/vocalist who would serve as a member until 2009) played piano, bass, drums and electric and acoustic guitar. It was a fun, musical chairs kind-of-scene we had going on. It was also cool because none of us played like the other guy.”

As the Dirt Band resurfaced on pop and then country charts over the following years, another key member came into the ranks. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter appeared on newly recorded tracks for the 1976 anthology “Dirt, Silver and Gold,” became a full-time recording and touring recruit by the end of the decade and has served as key architect of the Dirt Band sound ever since.

“Bob is one of my best friends in the world,” Hanna said. “We’ve written a bunch of songs I’m really proud of. He’s a great singer, a great writer, can play everything but pretty much sticks to the piano, B3 organ and accordion at this stage. He may not have been around the first day our band started, but he has contributed so much to such a large portion/percentage of the really significant Dirt Band music.”

Perhaps one of the more curious turns in the extensive Dirt Band saga remains its eager adoption by country radio as the ‘80s and ‘90s progressed. Admittedly, more traditional country elements were integral to the band’s music at the dawn of the ‘70s. But a turn to the more pop-friendly terrain of modern country turned out to be as natural as it was unexpected.

“We never dreamt country radio would really play our music,” Hanna said. “But then we came to Nashville for a TV special called ‘Country Comes Home’ that was on CBS. They asked us to do ‘Make a Little Magic.’ That’s where we got to know the band Alabama, who turned out to be fans of our band. Then I heard them sing and it was like. ‘Dang, this is not unlike where we came from, in California back in ’69 and ’70. So we stuck our toes in the water to see if there was any interest there and ended up coming to Nashville.”

Today, as the touring portion of the Dirt Band’s career concludes, the ensemble exists as a six-member ensemble with Hanna, Fadden and Carpenter joined by bassist Jim Photoglo, fiddler/mandolinist Ross Holmes and Hanna’s son (and Mavericks alumnus) Jaime on guitar.

“When we started, the fact we were getting to go out, play music and make records... that was a giant box to check right there. The idea that we would be doing it even 10 years seemed unthinkable. When we got to the 20-year mark, the gratitude really kicked in. To still be able to do this today? It’s remarkable. It’s incredible.”

If you go: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Tommy Prine

When: 7:30 pm April 10

Where: Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short

Tickets: $49.50-$75 at ticketmaster.com.