The Dillards’ secret weapon: In step with mandolin maestro Dean Webb

The Dillards —acoustic bassist-emcee Mitch Jayne, lead singer-guitarist Rodney Dillard, big brother-banjoist Doug Dillard, and mandolinist Dean Webb — pose inside a gray school bus set out to pasture on the Melody Ranch property of original singing cowboy Gene Autry in 1967. Photography by Henry Diltz / Corbis via Getty Images

“Wheatstraw Suite was a very influential album in my life,” admitted Eagles co-frontman Don Henley during promotion for his chart-topping Cass County country-leaning record. “I was a big fan of the Dillards. In fact, I drove through a snowstorm to hear them play in Fort Worth back in 1968. I just thought ‘She Sang Hymns Out of Tune’ was the most interesting song and they were an interesting band.”

Dean Webb, founding member of the progressive bluegrass and pioneering country rock four-piece band, graciously agreed to examine his nearly 60-year professional music career in a sweeping interview debuting below.

Whether you realize it or not, Webb has been featured in syndication every day since 1963 as one of the tight-lipped but melodically bubbling over Darling Family mountain dwellers on the iconic Andy Griffith Show in six fan-favorite episodes.

Also consisting of Rodney Dillard on guitar-lead vocals, big brother Doug Dillard on banjo, and the witty Mitch Jayne as bassist-emcee [the latter two are sadly both deceased], the well-rehearsed outfit initially worried that the Griffith producers’ request to enhance the hillbilly mannerisms might impact their standing among fellow bluegrass connoisseurs. That fear proved to be unfounded as the comedy series crucially gave both the…