Interview with Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Interview With Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band by Mary Ann Sust

Q: Jeff, you, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, have an incredible history and have profoundly influenced many people's lives over many years.

A: Thank you. We've had a nice run. I'm really grateful that we got to play this long and with the people that we've gotten to play with. It's been a tremendous honor and pleasure.

Q: What do you feel about "Welcome To Woody Creek?" It's been well received by everybody with whom I've spoken and everything I've read about.

A: We feel great about it. It was the first time we were all in the studio in quite some time, especially with John McEuen. He'd been out of our band for I guess 14-15 years and then re-joined the band in 2001. This was the first time we'd gone in and made a whole new strictly "Dirt Band" record in a really long time. It was great.

Q: Where did you record?

A: We did it outside of Nashville. We made our records for a long time and had a great time recording in Nashville but sometimes when you record in a music industry town like Nashville, LA, or New York, the business part can encroach on the process so we went to Colorado to make this record in the mountains, and it was a really nice experience.

Q: I got a sense of mellowness, of peace, of being settled with oneself from "Welcome to Woody Creek."

A: I think you've got it. We were hoping to get that across. Partly, it was just the material and partly it was the environment in which it was recorded.

Q: What was the inspiration for the Beatles' song?

A: That was just a little bit of a toss off. We'd been playing the bluegrass version of "Get Back," live that way for some time. We started doing that in the 1970s and we played it that way for a long time. When John left, of course, we quit doing it because we didn't have the electric banjo. When he came back he said -- You know, let's work up "Get Back" again. We tried it and people loved it. When we got into recording, we sort of used it as our soundtrack song and were pretty tickled by the performance so we kept it on the record. I think it works great as a blue grass tune. It was also a good way to get the process rolling.

Q: Are there any songs going on in the back of your minds right now? There's got to be a creative process going on that motivates you, that pushes you forward.

A: We've got five guys and they're all song writers, so that's a start. There's always a backlog of material. One thing that we've loved about music and I think it's helped us stay together all this time is knowing that you can record something new or even just learn a new song; it's great. One of the pitfalls of artists that have been touring and recording for over a decade or two, and we're in the four decades here, is that you kind of do your hits and that's it. I can tell you that that can really make it fail for you. We love playing the old songs and it's great the way that people react to them, but the stuff that's the most fun for us is the new stuff. I think that's the thing that really breathes life, really keeps your blood flowing, as an artist. That's why it's always fun for us to make a new record. We love talking about the new stuff.

Q: Did you ever envision reaching this level of fame?

A: No, not really. I don't think that any of us even assumed that. I think when we all got into this, we were pleasantly surprised a couple years in that we could make a living playing music rather than teaching school or some of the other things that we might have gone off and done. But to be together as a band for more than 10 or 15 years was astounding. We had a 20th anniversary and we were like -- My God, twenty years has gone by just like that. But that's something that people always tell you when you're a kid, don't blink, life just flies by. I think a large degree of what has happened for us has been blind luck.

Q: And tremendous talent.

A: Thank you. I think we take our band for granted sometimes. One of the reasons we love playing live is the way people respond to what we do.

Q: How have you seen each other change over the years?

A: I think we're a little more accepting. Our band is a lot like a family, you know, a big old dysfunctional family. We fight like brothers, but we're also very protective of each other. The five of us have probably spent more time together than with anybody else in our real family. We sort of know the dynamic that works and that's something we've learned. That's something we've learned as we've gotten older too, to be a little more tolerant.

Q: Have there been challenges in your career?

A: One of the things we've faced in the past years is that when you've been making music as long as we have, it's hard to get people's attention with a new record because a lot of people say -- Well, another release from the "Dirt Band." Hopefully we can give them something that perks their ears up a little bit. That's a little more of a challenge than being a brand new act. The upside of it is that we have a certain degree of, I guess, respect out there in the world so at least people will usually give an initial listen to something new that we've done and we're pleased that most of our fans are pretty open.

Q: I believe music more profoundly affects people than any medium - more than television, movies, or even the internet. Music goes into people's hearts and lives. We hear it everywhere, in the malls, in the car. It seems to me that making music carries with it a sense of responsibility.

A: That's true. Music is everywhere and I think it does have a very powerful effect. We're all, of course, music fans, too, so, as you said earlier, it's kind of a responsibility, but, it's great. I love it when people tell us that a song or an album that we did got them through a tough time. That always makes me feel great. I know that the music that I've listened to over the years, and it's all kinds of music I should point out, that there's always some really significant stuff that has inspired or comforted me, made me laugh, or whatever. That whole concept of one's life having a soundtrack is pretty true, isn't it.

Q: Do you have a sense of this when you're writing or creating, or does it just become part of the process?

A: Sometimes it will be a phrase, something I've heard someone say or observed somebody going through, or a particular situation. Sometimes it's as simple as a little musical guitar riff that pops out for me. Inspiration for songs is kind of an intangible thing. That whole thing about having a muse and having something that just inspires you is pretty true. I could sit down right now, pretty much anyone could sit down and write a song, but one that they're happy with is always the challenge. A lot of times you go back and go -- Darn, that's not any good; or you have the flipside -- That's really good. The great songs usually come very quickly too, the ones you're really proud of after the fact.

Q: Are there any in particular that come to mind at this point in your life?

A: Not really, I'm not very objective about the songs I've written myself. I've got a few that I'm really proud of, but it wouldn't be fair to say because tomorrow it may be different.

Q: How does your family take to all this?

A: My kids, obviously, have been around this for their whole lives. My wife is actually a singer/songwriter, so she totally understands it.

Q: What would be your advice to somebody who's young, who's trying to make it?

A: Number one is, don't get discouraged. But the most important thing, I think, is to try to be original. Try to find your own voice. In my case, for example, when I was just learning music I started out by learning from others, being a fan of music and finding heroes. You found people that you thought were great coming up and you try to imitate them. That will usually get you to the next stage which is, hopefully, that you're sounding more and more like you're imitating them. Then you start to hear less of that influence and you come out of that little cocoon and become yourself. That's the ticket. I think that's what really makes music an individual thing.

Q: Then that's what people are doing now right now with you, imitate what they appreciate about your music and then eventually take off on their own, one would hope.

A: That one would hope, absolutely.

Q: You've carried on traditional American music, a legacy of the talent and generations of historic figures. You're a very large part of this step of carrying forward this American music.

A: I'd like to think we're at least part of the passing of that torch, and we're proud of that.

For more information on Jeff Hanna and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band visit http://www.nittygritty.com

Mary Ann Sust is a Washington, D.C., writer and interviewer who has written and hosted articles and monthly columns on beauty and skincare, veterinary/public health issues, and arts and entertainment. She has worked as an actor and in casting at Central Casting USA. She is also an independent skincare consultant.

Mary Ann Sust - http://MaryAnnSust.MyArbonne.com

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