The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The band in 1976.
Background information
Also known as	The Dirt Band, The Toot Uncommons
Origin	Long Beach, California, United States
Genres	Folk, country, folk rock, country rock, country pop, bluegrass
Years active	1966–present
Labels	BGO, Liberty, EMI America, Capitol, United Artists, Warner Bros., Universal, MCA, CEMA, Javelin, Rising Tide, DreamWorks, Dualtone, Sugarhill
Website	http://www.nittygritty.com/
Members	Bob Carpenter Jimmie Fadden Jeff Hanna John McEuen
Past members	Ralph Barr Merel Bregante Jackson Browne John Cable Jackie Clark Chris Darrow Michael Gardner Al Garth Richard Hathaway Jimmy Ibbotson Bruce Kunkel Bernie Leadon Vic Mastrianni Les Thompson

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant members since the early times are singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and drummer Jimmie Fadden. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned during 2001. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music.

The band's successes include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles". Albums include 1972's Will the Circle be Unbroken, featuring such traditional country artists as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was released in 1989, was certified gold, won two Grammy Awards and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded around 1966 in Long Beach, California by singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and singer-songwriter guitarist Bruce Kunkel who had performed as the New Coast Two and later the Illegitimate Jug Band. Trying, in the words of the band's website, to "figure out how not to have to work for a living," Hanna and Kunkel joined informal jam sessions at McCabe's Guitar Shop. There they met several multi-instrumentalists: guitarist/washtub bassist Ralph Barr, guitarist-clarinetist Les Thompson, harmonicist and jug player Jimmie Fadden and guitarist-vocalist Jackson Browne. As Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the six men started as a jug band and adopted the burgeoning southern California folk rock musical style, playing in local clubs while wearing pinstripe suits and cowboy boots. Their first paying performance was at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, California.