To understand the importance of The McEuen Sessions – For All the Good, you really need to review the history of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Drive-by fans often recall the band’s radio-friendly cover of the Jerry Jeff Walker “Mr. Bojangles,” released in 1970 and talk about the group launching one-time member Jackson Browne into international stardom. Those that have done their homework know that its not a stretch to say the band was one of the main forces that invented country rock, serving as the training grounds for not just Browne but musical guideposts for everyone from the Eagles to Alabama to Brad Paisley.

“It is more than a shock that it’s been 46 years than anything,” said John McEuen when asked to reflect on the years since the Dirt Band formed. “It’s a number that has a lot of impact because every show has to be better than the last because it could be the last show you do. Every show is the most important show you are doing whether you’re at a county fair or an amphitheater. Music is what your life is and you need to treat it that way. [My sons] feel the same way.”

Although Jonathan and Nathan McEuen, the sons of which John McEuen speaks, are only in their 30s, you can say their musical background began 46 years ago. That’s when their Grammy Award winning dad who has long been dubbed the “String Wizard” for his prowess on banjo, mandolin, guitar and all things string, launched a career that would find him collaborating with everyone from Bob Dylan to Kris Kristofferson to Donovan and Arlo Guthrie. It was only natural that he wanted to pass his love of music to his kids.

“He started us really young; he didn’t want until we were 17,” said Jonathan of his father’s influence. “He gave us guitars when we were six and we’d go out on the road with him.”

John McEuen said that working with his sons when they were young was fun, at first, but then sibiling rivalries and other childhood emotions got in the way so they took a break for a while.

Although Jonathan felt a need to also change musical styles — from acoustic to electric — it wasn’t too long before he felt the pull of the Dirt Band sound luring him back. About 2005 he formed the Hanna-McEuen duo with Jamie Hanna, son of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founder Jeff Hanna. “We love the Dirt Band and we got together as a duo to play their songs. We talked about the Dirt Band [to our audiences] and honor them on stage and we call it our last name just for that reason….I’ve made dozens of albums myself and finally said ‘Let’s get back to the family thing.’”

Nathan had a similar musical trajectory loving to perform with his dad from the time he was in grade school, but feeling he had to break away or risk becoming something akin to another version of his famous dad.

“Kids whose fathers are musicians are like that,” he said. “Although we grew up in the music industry and its our heritage, we [often] want to reach out. I wanted to find my own way and have my independence. When I was a teenager I was into Nirvana and Green Day and from there I went to hip hop and classical. I just wanted to make sure I knew what style of music I really wanted to make.”

In a way, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went through similar growing pains moving from a jug band in its infancy to a folk-rock sound before expanding into country rock.

It wasn’t until 1972 when Bill McEuen, John’s older brother and the band’s one-time manager and producer, suggested the group go Nashville and record with legendary performers including Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter and other. At that time, of course, the Dirt Band members were considered the scruffy rebels to the Nashville royalty. Few would have likely predicted that the resulting triple album Will the Circle Be Unbroken not only propelled the band into international fame but also married country and rock.

The McEuens at Red Rocks, 1982

In a way, the McEuen Session album – which includes both original and cover songs that range from rock to bluegrass to traditional – reflects the genres and generations on the Circle album, said John. Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, where the trio recorded, also added to the historic mood; R.E.M., Gwen Stefani and Elton John are just some of the artists that have recorded there.

Of course, not everything surrounding sessions for the Circle or the McEuen Sessions were without care. Circle was recorded at a time of similar civil unrest in the United States, just as the McEuen’s recent release comes at another time of unrest. Those circumstances played a role in the songs that McEuen wanted to record on this collaboration with his sons.

“I was adamant that ‘The long hard road,’ had to be on there,” said McEuen of the song that tells the story of building a career in music. “I really wanted the brothers to sing it. They did it and there is a great response to it…”

That’s not to say that the songs are all in the style of the Dirt Band. Just as the elder McEuen – a multi-instrumentalist who taught Steve Martin to play banjo when they were younger – has played and continues to enjoy a variety of styles, so do his sons.

To ensure the process was truly collaborative, each of the trio chose three songs to record for the album. The other three songs and the three bonus tracks were a group decision.

“We picked out all the songs, had a week of sessions and then had it in the can,” said Jonathan. "We thought we’d better mix it right, get it out right, promote it right…

But 95% of the songs were done in one take. A real emotional response carried us through the whole process. That is what is rare about this. And it’s always good when family feels something like that on any level. It’s always good when a family can play together and record together and talk to people at the CD table. It’s a good feeling."

Although the brothers played on and off through the years, the individual music paths they took allowed them to form a cohesive unit with their dad. Still, it took a while for them to find a comfort level from which to record.

“I think we wanted it to be right,” said Nathan. “In order to make that phone call to my dad and brother [and suggest recording] I had to first [chart] my own path in music. And I didn’t do that all my myself. Jonathan helped me on some projects and my dad played on a couple [of my projects]. But I needed those experiences, my own experiences, to really feel this was something I wanted to do. I didn’t want to ride on anyone’s coattails. I wanted it to be real…It was only after about two or three years of consistently living on the road, of only having a PO box in Southern California, that my hobby turned into a career. I just kept working on it, and working on it, and working on it until it had a real purpose.”

It was during a break after being on the road for more than two years that Nathan went to Atlanta to stay with his sister and regroup. A series of circumstances led him to Tree Sound Studios and ask his brother and father to check it out and consider recording with him there.

“Three months later, we had it all together,” said Nathan. “They went for it, fortunately, and it all felt great.”

That’s due in large part to the feelings all three share for the music they recorded as well as their familial bonds.

“There is a definite emotional response to that music,” said Jonathan.
“That came from the first track we laid down, to the first photo….and all across the board. "

Watching the brothers open a recent show for the Dirt Band, it’s easy to see that the real purpose about which Nathan discussed is present. Although the two performed a selection of songs from the new album, it was the camaraderie they displayed on stage, joking with each other and thanking their father and Hanna for allowing them to open, that notably brought some of the most heartfelt responses from the audience.

That’s no accident or one time event, said Nathan, who said that when they play Dirt Band flavored music, it ignites a feeling of kinship between the brothers and their audiences.

“This type of music is closest to my heart,” said Nathan. “I have noticed, for me, that I like the acoustic guitar singer-songwriter approach. I was in Ireland and we passed the guitar around and everyone had a song to play; it was all beautiful and relevant. It starts to sound hippie….but you get through to so many people through melody….”