FOR YOUR GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION
Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording - Spoken Word
THE NEWSMAN - A MAN OF RECORD
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BIO
John McEuen, born in 1945, is a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. A multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle), he initiated the landmark album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," which is in the Grammy® Hall of Fame and Library of Congress. McEuen has produced numerous award-winning projects, earning multiple Grammy®, CMA, and ACM awards. His career spans over 11,000 concerts and numerous television appearances. In 2017, he was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.
For his full career bio details of his achievements, visit John McEuen's official site.
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John McEuen, born in Oakland, CA in 1945, moved to southern California’s Orange County with his family for high school years. He and lifelong high-school friend Steve Martin both got a job in 1963 (in the magic shop) at 16! When, a couple years later, he saw Missouri bluegrass group The Dillards in an Orange County club, John’s life then headed towards his new dream: “be a traveling music man”. Leaving his Garden Grove spawning ground, his dream became more of a reality than imagined it could be!
Multi-instrumentalist McEuen (banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle) has been recognized as a founding member and award-winning outstanding performer of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He departed at the end of the 50th year anniversary tour Oct. 22, 2017 due to demands for his solo work and the desire to do things new. In addition to John’s numerous solo accolades, NGDB was inducted in to Colorado Music Hall of Fame 2015. It is all covered in his book The Life I’ve Picked on Chicago Review Press, published April, 2018.
In 1971 John initiated the now landmark Will the Circle be Unbroken* album, hooking Nitty Gritty Dirt Band up with his musical mentors Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson simply by asking them in Colorado (brother Bill then asked Merle Travis, and it started growing) to record; it grew to inviting Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Roy Acuff, ‘Bashful’ Brother Oswald, Merle Travis, Vassar Clements, and Junior Huskey, for 5 magic hot August days of recording. The now multi-platinum “Circle” is in both the Library of Congress and the Grammy Hall of Fame. * “One of the most important records to come out of Nashville…” Chet Flippo Rolling Stone
He closed ep. 6 (called Will the Circle be Unbroken) of PBS’a Ken Burns Country Music, appearing in 3 other episodes.Radio Host, author, television show producer, writer, concert promoter, multi-instrumental musician, performer, magician, John McEuen continues to explore the music world!
John’s second book – Will the Circle Be Unbroken – 50th anniversary Year – The Making of a Landmark Album Captures 145 of his brother’s (record producer/manager) ‘masterpiece’ photos, with the stories behind each one.
McEuen has made over 46 albums (7 solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold records, multiple Grammy Awards and nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy film score nomination, IBMA record of the year award, and performed on another 25 albums as guest artist. John’s production of Steve Martin – The Crow won the 2010 Best Bluegrass Album Grammy.
The Music of the Wild West CD- produced by McEuen, was honored with the Western Heritage Award.
Other accolades include: Grammy nomination for String Wizards II, the Uncle Dave Macon Award (for excellence in preservation and performance of historic music); 2009 he was inducted in to the Traditional Country Music Hall of Honor. As a producer/composer of film scores, solo albums, John has produced award-winning projects of his own and for several other artists.John has continually performed since 1963 – doing over 11,000 concerts, 300 television shows, 10,000 interviews and flown more than 4 million miles. In 2010 John was honored with the Best in the West solo performer award from the Folk Alliance Organization. McEuen’s rich history of creating, producing and preserving original and traditional folk music earned him the 2013 Charlie Poole Lifetime Achievement Award.
John is excited about his new album coming out on Compass Records summer of this year. No title yet!
Made in Brooklyn. – (Stereophile Magazine’s Record of the Month; winner: Independent Music Award’s Best Americana album – 2018), produced by John, earned rave reviews. ‘Brooklyn’ features Matt Cartsonis, John Cowan, Steve Martin, David Amram, Martha Redbone, John Carter Cash, Jay Ungar, Andy Goessling.“I am grateful that people continue to support what I do as I continue making things. I feel like some of my best projects are ahead. So many stories. so many songs, so many notes, so little time”.
John was inducted in 2017 to the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame.
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What? An album that is ’spoken’, by Grammy® winner, ‘string wizard’ John McEuen? Asking him why, and just what is the new album about, John says:
“I have been around the world playing music and collecting stories for… a long time. As a teenager, well before Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I loved Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man. Before music, I must have recited “Ya Got Trouble” 2,000 times! Later, when performing became part of ‘the life I’ve picked’, every now and then I would do one of these ‘stories’ (often a Hank Williams talking blues) on stage, always happy about how well they went over.
The Mountain Whippoorwill was a mainstay for many years with early N G Dirt Band. Then, another story would come along, be learned, and ‘filed away’ for a future date; ‘the stories’ were tired of waiting to ‘get done’.
So, I did them.
“Film score work (14 scores) gave me the experience of putting background music to picture and words, without music getting ‘in the way’. Tommy Lee Jones taught me (doing a score for him – The Good Old Boys) that “when someone says ‘Hey, that’s a great score going on there’, the music person has failed to support the picture. You can’t let the music dominate, it has to support what’s happening.” So it sometimes is with spoken word. This album is a soundtrack for films not yet made.
The Newsman I wrote about a man who influenced my outlook on life and work, one to whom I owe a debt of gratitude, but find it is too late to thank him. He touched many.
Fly Trouble, a suggestion of my late brother Bill, is this ‘talking blues’ from Luke the Drifter – better known as Hank Williams – from 1949. Hank did many ‘talking blues’ songs in his career.
The Cremation of Sam McGee, (1906) Thank you Robert Service for writing this haunting tale. My late sister would tell me her favorite poem when I was in 4th-6th grade…. I wish she could hear this, but maybe she does.
Old Rivers comes from 1963, before I started playing music, and I have had it on my mind ever since… “one of these days I’m going to climb that mountain, ….”.
Working with John Carter Cash for a few years, he asked me to look over some things he wrote, and his cute Pineapple John jumped off the paper, right in to my guitar!
Always liking historical ‘pieces’ (some music I play is from 300 years ago!), H.W. Longfellow wrote Killed at the Ford right after the Civil War, and the music I took off the paper was from the same era, Vacant Chair.
Thomas Monroe wrote Nui Ba Den while he was in 1968 Vietnam, and sent it to his brother in America. Thomas came back to pass away years later (not enough years) from ‘remnants of agent orange’, according to his brother, who sent me this tough to tell story ten years ago.
Thaddeus Bryant, the youngest contributor (20), wrote this wonderful poem Red Clay; when I heard it last year I knew it was perfect for this album.
I’ll Be Glad When they Run Outta Gas is a take on another way to look at the ‘fuel problem’, as this ‘bumpkin’ will be glad when they run out.. but will he? Thanks to Phoenix blues legend and friend/author Hans Olson, this song came to be in my hands and mouth at the same time.
The Mountain Whippoorwill here I did in an old church for an audient (one person), in one take; Jay Unger being the willing listener. It transports me to a different space and time, as I hope it does for the listener. It did for him.
Jules’ Theme ? Well.. find a story you can tell with this music behind you, and let me know what it is. This could be a soundtrack for a film someday. Inspired by Jules Verne telling a friend, in a French cemetery, about his recently deceased young wife, and how in love they were.
Watching the Tom Hanks film “News of the World” made me finish this album, as I feel like that character, having to read the news to people who have not yet heard it. And, my first ‘song’, the title cut, is about that type of fellow, and his story had to be told.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was a great 50-year run for me, and now it’s time for The Newsman!
Thanks to those who helped me make The Newsman, as their musical talents are much beyond mine. And, we did it together.
It’s time to, as Sinatra said, Start Spreadin’ the News…
John McEuen
FYC 2024
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Grammy® winner John McEuen’s new album, The Newsman, is a first for the acoustic music legend who helped to define the trajectory for bluegrass and acoustic-rooted music in the mid 1970s as a member of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The album includes 10 spoken word renditions of poems from the 19th and 20th century that McEuen has been collecting over the course of his 50 year career and one self-penned instrumental, the evocative “Jules’ Theme,” which closes the collection. Each story is told in McEuen’s engaging baritone, adorned by his unique instrumental compositions informed by his many years of scoring films. From the opening title track, which is a true story about a man who sold newspapers and was a tremendous influence on the young musician in Los Angeles, to the album’s sole instrumental, “Jules' Theme,” inspired by Jules Verne telling a friend, in a French cemetery, about his recently deceased young wife, McEuen presents an album of mini-stories at once inspirational and deeply emotional.
Tracks on the album include “Killed at the Ford,” a Civil War-era poem penned by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that tells of the death of a young soldier as he and friends go to meet a picket-guard by a ford. Although no trouble is expected, a shot is fired from the woods and the young man is killed. The poem goes on to contemplate the impact on the young man’s family at home. “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” one of the most famous poems written by Robert Service, was published in 1907 and tells the story of the man who cremates the prospector who froze to death in the Yukon while searching for gold. “Fly Trouble” is a Hank Williams Sr. classic from 1949, and one of “talking blues” numbers that McEuen has recited many times over the past years. “Old Rivers” was written by Cliff Crofford and released by Walter Brennan in 1963, while Thomas Monroe wrote “Nui Ba Den” while he was in Vietnam in 1968. More recent writings include “Pineapple John” by John Carter Cash, Hans Olson’s “I’ll Be Glad When I Run Out Of Gas” and Thaddeus Bryant’s “Red Clay.”
Says McEuen: “I have been around the world playing music and collecting stories for… a long time. As a teenager, well before Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I loved Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man. Before I started playing I must have recited ‘Ya Got Trouble’ 2,000 times! Later, when performing became part of the life I picked, every now and then I would do one of these ‘stories’ (often a Hank Williams talking blues) on stage, always happy about how well they went over.” It’s a gift to McEuen’s many fans that he has finally memorialized these stories on The Newsman.
John McEuen was a founding member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and was instrumental in the creation of the now classic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album which introduced first generation bluegrass and country artists and musicians to a whole new generation of listeners in the mid 1970s. McEuen has 14 film scores to his credit, including the Tommy Lee Jones movie Good Ole Boys. He has released multiple solo albums including four for Vanguard Records. In 2018, he published his autobiography The Life I Picked.
Project Credits
& Team Links
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Produced by John McEuen, except where noted *
Mix/Mastered by Nick Sevilla
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THE NEWSMAN
John McEuen; muted banjo Spencer Quinn; guitar David Bourne; Video Wizards Music /BMI
FLY TROUBLE
Fred Rose, Bunny Biggs, and Honey Wilds; arr. J. McEuen; the Nashville band featuring Mark O'Connor; produced * by Paul Worley/Marshall Morgan; J. McEuen; Acuff/Rose Music Publishing Co. Inc./BMI
THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE
Robert Service; music J. McEuen; keyboards, David Hoffner; Video Wizards Music /BMI
OLD RIVERS
Cliff Crofford; music J. McEuen; recordist Nick Sevilla; pub. Warner-Tamerlane Pub. Corp./BMI
THE GUITAR OF PINEAPPLE JOHN
John Carter Cash; music J. McEuen; exec. Prod. J. C. Cash, Auriga Ra, Music ASCAP, Prod. Trey Call; Recorded by Trey Call and Joseph Cash at The Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN; Mixed by Trey Call
KILLED AT THE FORD
H. W. Longfellow; music: J. McEuen; vocals: Matt Cartsonis, David Bourne, Jennifer Warnes; Video Wizards Music /BMI
NUI BA DEN
Darrell and Thomas Monroe; GTD and Associates publishing; music J. McEuen/Chris Caswell (keyboards); Video Wizards Music /BMI
RED CLAY
Thaddeus Bryant; music J. McEuen; House of Bryant/BMI
I'LL BE GLAD WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF GAS
Hans Olson, Blond Son Publishing; J. McEuen and the Nashville band; Video Wizards Music /BMI
THE MOUNTAIN WHIPPOORWILL
Stephen Vincent Benet; music J. McEuen; prod.* by David Chesky; Video Wizards Music/BMI
JULES’ THEME
Jules Verne; music J.Euen Mc; J. McEuen piano/guitar/bass; oboe Ellen Hindson; Video Wizards Music /BMI
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Personnel:
John is joined by Mark O'Connor, Matt Cartsonis, Dave Bourne, Jennifer Warnes, Chris Caswell, Spencer Quinn, and David Hoffner
PHOTO GALLERY
