Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played their first gig in 1966 in Southern California as a jug band and by 1969 had become a cornerstone of the burgeoning country-rock community. Their career breakthrough came in 1970 with the release of the record Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy and the single “Mr. Bojangles,” a folksy Top 10 pop hit  that remains a staple of their live show. During a tour stop in Nashville around that time, Earl Scruggs and his family came backstage to say hello. That introduction led to a friendship and some of the connections the band needed to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken. That three-disc album brought Nitty Gritty Dirt Band together with a number of country, folk, and bluegrass legends. Heroes like Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, and Doc Watson joined the scruffy, young band to record country music standards such as “I Saw the Light” and “Keep on the Sunnyside.” The acclaimed project is considered a landmark recording in American music.

Following an extended 50th anniversary tour, the ensemble grew to a six-piece in 2018 for the first time since their early jug band days. The group now includes Jeff Hanna (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Jimmie Fadden (drums, harmonica), Bob Carpenter (keyboards), Jim Photoglo (bass, acoustic guitar), Ross Holmes (fiddle, mandolin), and Jaime Hanna (electric and acoustic guitar). All six members also sing, and when their voices merge, the harmonies add a powerful new component for the legendary band. And with the father-son pairing of Jeff and Jaime Hanna, the band carries on a country music tradition of blood harmony.

Bela Fleck (& the Flecktones)

“Béla Fleck has taken banjo playing to some very unlikely places — not just bluegrass and country and “newgrass,” but also into classical concertos, jazz and a documentary about the banjo’s deep African roots, not to mention the time he toured with throat singers from Tuva. He’s also baffled the Grammy awards, winning for country and jazz in the same year and also winning in pop, world music, classical crossover and, yes, folk. That’s a lot of territory for five strings.”

— JON PARELES, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Jon Carroll

At age 18, Jon Carroll was a founding member of Starland Vocal Band, recording the #1 Pop hit “AFTERNOON DELIGHT”. (click to watch video)

The group went on to be nominated for 5 Grammy Awards, winning  2: for Best New Artist & Best Arrangement for Voices (One of Jon’s roles in the group). 

Since then, he’s has not slowed down as a performer, composer, arranger, producer, songwriter and musician. His works have appeared in films, commercials and episodic dramas and comedies, and he is highly sought after studio session performer appearing on many recordings.

His songs have been covered by artists such as Linda Ronstadt (Her 80’s hit “Want Love? Get Closer!), Tom Jones and Kenny Rogers, and he’s the long-time keyboardist/vocalist band member with Mary Chapin Carpenter, with touring stints for countless others including Rodney Crowell, Dixie Chicks, Peter Wolf and Eric Lindell. 

“Jon Carroll is a one man band, a poet, a songwriter, a singer of every kind of song and above all, a musician’s musician…and I can also attest to his being a not-to-be-missed performer.”
~Mary Chapin Carpenter