John McEuen Acoustically Speaking. (original) (raw)

String Wizard John McEuen, one of the founding members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, estimates that he has performed in excess of 5,000 stage shows and 300 television shows, traveled around the world, flown more than two million air miles and driven at least a million land miles, during a career that has now spanned 40 years.

Few people who have seen John in concert, playing banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, etc., need an explanation as to why he is called a string wizard. His mastery of acoustic string instruments seems almost magical at times. He has also been called an instrumental poet with a long list of outstanding accomplishments that include original musical compositions, and scoring movie and television specials.

Making music is John's joy, his passion. He is good enough to perform with symphonies but not too good to take a solo turn at a small club nowhere in particular, or sit beside a campfire in the Everglades picking with friends, the latter of which I was fortunate enough to witness a few years ago at Billie Swamp in Florida. He also has an intelligent and wry sense of humor, with a liberal dash of slapstick, as countless fans who have witnessed him jumping off the drum riser at a concert and running around the stage with his guitar on fire, will testify.

John McEuen, sons Nathan and Jonothan John McEuen, center, flanked by son Nathan on the left and son Jonothan on the right Photo Courtesy of John McEuen

I first met John in the 1980s when I interviewed the NGDB at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth. John couldn't sit down for an interview before the show, He had a worried expression on his brow, as he paced back and forth in the dressing room, warming up his fingers playing runs on his banjo. Did I mind waiting until after the show? His luggage had taken a different plane than the one he arrived on and he was waiting for someone to deliver his suitcase to him before show time. He couldn't go on without his "tenny Lamas," a special combination tennis shoe/cowboy boot made for him by the Tony Lama boot company.

His tenny Lama's arrived in time and a much more relaxed musician greeted me backstage after the show, John was happy to explain how he and his beloved tennis shoes with the cowboy boot tops became estranged that day.

The band had played a gig in the San Francisco the night before and they were at the airport early that morning, awaiting a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. But it was delayed by fog. John lived in Colorado at that time but he and his wife had been visiting friends in Los Angeles the day before and his wife was still in LA.

He kept hearing an announcement about a commuter flight departing for LA and he pictured his wife sleeping peacefully, so near and yet so far away. He checked flights and found he could fly to LA, stay a few hours and take another flight to Texas. He yelled "see you in Fort Worth" to the rest of the NGDB members and jumped on the commuter to LA. His wife, who had every right to expect that John was flying somewhere over New Mexico by now, was awakened by the sound of her sweetheart playing his banjo outside her door. If memory serves me well, the song was "Dream."

I just love a romantic story, don't you?

Fans who attend NGDB concerts often marvel at the speed with which John's fingers race across the strings of his vintage banjo or guitar. What they may not know is that his mind races along at a similar speed. It is hard for those of us whose minds travel at average speeds to keep up his accomplishments. Below is a partial list of some of his adventures: