Dirt Band rides new popularity boom

NASHVILLE, Tenn. With its recording of "Home Again in My Heart," theNitty Gritty Dirt Band is playing for the sons and daughters of thepeople it entertained two decades ago.

"I would hope to double our success," said John McEuen, theband's banjo, fiddle, guitar and steel guitar master musician. "Whatwe look forward to is being a garage word and hope to become ahousehold word."

For the record, the band plans to celebrate its 20th anniversaryin May with a concert, perhaps in Denver.

"We broke up five times the first week," said lead vocalist JeffHanna.

The Dirt Band was formed in Long Beach, Calif., in 1966 byHanna, then an aspiring folk singer, and at one time was called the"Illigitimate Jug Band."

Besides Hanna and McEuen, the members are Jimmie Fadden, drumsand harmonica; Bob Carpenter, keyboards, and Jimmy Ibbotson, bassand vocalist.

The group's first big hit, "Buy for Me the Rain," was in 1967.There have been ups and downs over the years, but its star has beenon the upswing for the past couple of years since the band switchedto country.

"Before we would even talk about breaking up, we had to do thisthing right," McEuen said. "We haven't made it. We have to take thisthing further. Since radio became so fragmented in the late '70s, wehad to find a home, and it felt like our only home would be in thecountry music direction.

"Not that we changed the music to adapt. We more or less facedthat direction we were playing to. We were going to let them know wewere there."

Hanna said the style of music is similar to the music the bandwas playing on albums in the early '70s. "It is a mixture of acousticand electric instruments."

McEuen said, "We've changed, but within our own framework. It'snot exactly like a bunch of spinal tap changes."

Hanna admitted that there have been disagreements within theband over the years, "But we have a common love of music. Sometimeswhen you feel bad about what you are doing, you go out on the stageand play and say, `This is pretty cool.' We've had a lot of thatfeeling in the last several years and that has bolstered the way wefeel about the band - the fact that we haven't wasted our time."

Today's concerts by the Dirt Band bring some humorous reactionsfrom fans.

"One came up to say, `I was real depressed until my olderbrother gave me this album of you guys when I was 12 years old.'Another, `I saw you first in 1967.' I don't feel like we're gettingold. Fifty is just another number and I'm over 10 years away fromit," McEuen said.

Playing to a second generation of fans is "real interesting,"Hanna said.

"Because the band has been together 20 years, people think we'reolder than (former Eagle) Don Henley, and he's three weeks older thanme," Hanna said. "In rock 'n' roll, the funny fact is that 20 yearsago people lied about their age. It was like you couldn't be marriedor over 30. People have forgotten that. Look at Tina Turner.What's she, 45 or 46? She's playing to 13- and 14-year-old kids.

"I just don't think that age has as much to do with it as itused to. The fact that we have new fans whose parents literally grewup with our music is tremendous and incredible," he said.

McEuen said, "Rock 'n' rollers are like football players. We'remore like golfers. Our stroke is getting better with age."

The band members are not worried about old age.

"Another 20 years? I think in country music that is within therealm of possibility because of loyalty and the longevity of theacts," Hanna said.

"In the '70s," McEuen added, "we had periods where recording wasa chore because of a lack of focus. There were years that we didn'tpay respect to the fact that we had the privilege of recording.There was internal confusion.

"When we got started, I never had any intention of this being mylife's work," he said. "I thought about doing it just for fun. Butit didn't take but a couple of months of doing it to realize thatthis is a lot easier than washing dishes or working."

"I thought of it being my life but not work," McEuen said.