A Conversation with Bob Carpenter of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Which Brings its “Farewell Tour” to MPAC on October 9
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is celebrating 58 years together with an All the Good Times: Farewell Tour performance at MPAC in Morristown, NJ on October 9, 2024.
Founded in 1966, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band climbed the charts with their 1971 hit, “Mr. Bojangles.” The group’s success continued with their 1972 star-studded triple platinum-selling country album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and related projects including 1989’s double-Grammy winning Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. II, and 2003's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. III. The group’ most recent recording is their 2022 Bob Dylan tribute album, Dirt Does Dylan.
Keyboardist Bob Carpenter has been working with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band since the 1970s when he started writing for and playing on the group’s recordings before becoming a full-time band member in 1980.
Spotlight Central recently caught up with Carpenter and asked him about his musical roots, his work with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, in addition to the group’s upcoming All the Good Times: Farewell Tour performance at Morristown, NJ’s MPAC.
Spotlight Central: You hail from Philadelphia where, at the age of four, you watched a particular television music program which, let’s say, inspired you to want to play along. Can you tell us what happened there?
Bob Carpenter: Yeah, my parents forced me to watch The Lawrence Welk Show. I got bored and wanted to play along so I got some pie tins and sticks, but that was the end of that because before I knew it, I had an accordion in my hands. So that’s the beginning and the end of the story, but I’ve had lot of accordions over the years and that accordion my parents got me in 1951 is the same one I still play on stage.
Spotlight Central: That’s cool! Now, also at the age of four, you made your first recording at the Jersey Shore. Can you tell us exactly where that was and what song you recorded and with whom?
Bob Carpenter: It was in Wildwood, NJ, and I sang harmony with my mother on a little recording we made in a booth of “You Are My Sunshine.” It cost me, I think, a nickel, and my sister and I have been looking all over for it for years but we still have no idea where it is.
Spotlight Central: We’re told that you grew up singing in church with your family, but what kind of music did you enjoy listening to outside of church when you were growing up?
Bob Carpenter: Well, once I got into my teens, the transistor radio came out and I listened to all the stuff from the early ’60s, but I think the first record I ever bought was “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” and, for some reason, it’s still stuck in my head. Before that, I’d say I had a typical musical childhood, listening to nursery rhymes and all that — probably the same thing you listened to when you were growing up — but it was lots of stuff from the radio from that era like Bobby Darin and artists like that.
Spotlight Central: Eventually, you started playing in clubs, but in the meantime, two musicians, Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden, started The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in Long Beach, CA in 1966 with an early member being Jackson Browne. Do you have any idea how they came up with the group’s name?
Bob Carpenter: Yeah, Jeff thought up the name. He was in his first year of college and he was taking some sort of literature class — I think he was an English major — and the professor said something about “getting down to the nitty gritty.” And when the band started, it was a jug band — it was sort of earthy, down home music — so Jeff added “dirt” to the name. Plus, it also kind of fit because, at the time, it seemed like every band had some sort of long or unusual psychedelic name like The 13th Floor Elevators or The Strawberry Alarm Clock.
Spotlight Central: We understand that you traveled to California in the late ’60s but moved to Colorado in 1969. The guys from the Dirt Band moved from Long Beach to Colorado, which is where you all hooked up in the ’70s and you started writing songs for them and playing on their albums before becoming a member. Over the years — both in and out of the band — you’ve gotten to work with a laundry list of artists including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Vai, Bruce Hornsby, and even Quiet Riot. Do you have any special memories working with any of these musicians?
Bob Carpenter: All the stuff with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Emmylou Harris came about with the Dirt Band when we recorded the Will the Circle Be Unbroken albums — that’s how I got to record with all of those people, but I made friends with other people, as well. Eventually, I left Colorado and went back to California and did some sessions with various engineers there. So, yeah, I played keyboards on Quiet Riot’s last album and played accordion on one of Steve Vai’s live albums. I’ve been really lucky to play music with a lot of people and it’s been a really rewarding experience.
Spotlight Central: Over the past 58 years, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band produced a number of popular recordings going back to 1971 with “Mr. Bojangles” and moving on to such later hits as 1987’s “Fishin’ in the Dark,” in addition to — as you just mentioned — the Will the Circle Be Unbroken trilogy of albums. Do you have a particular favorite Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recording that you’re especially proud of?
Bob Carpenter: When I get together with people and I want to play them something I really love, I’ll play the Bruce Hornsby cut we won the Grammy with from Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. II, “Valley Road.” What happened is, when Hornsby was in college he heard the Circle I album and loved it, so when we learned this, we invited him to be a part of Circle II. He said he wanted to record a bluegrass version of “Valley Road” with us, so we went in and did it and it’s one of my favorites. And, also, “Riding Along” is a song I sang with Emmylou Harris on the Circle II album, and that’s one of my favorites, as well. It was a real thrill for me getting to sing with her.
Spotlight Central: You also were a big part of the group’s most recent project, 2022’s Dirt Does Dylan album. What was it like for you working on that project?
Bob Carpenter: It was nuts! We went in and recorded for about a week in March of 2020 and then went out on the road for a weekend and thought we were gonna come back and finish the record, but the pandemic hit and we didn’t get to finish it for another year and a half. So it was a little bit disjointed there — we still ended up working on it in bits and pieces and managed to get it done — but that was supposed to be a short project that took ten days and it ended up taking two years.
Spotlight Central: That’s life, isn’t it!
Bob Carpenter: Yeah, and seems to have been true for everybody during the pandemic.
Spotlight Central: With The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s current lineup of musicians including long-time members Jeff Hanna on guitar, Jimmy Fadden on drums, and you on keyboards — along with newer members Jim Photoglo on bass, and Ross Holmes on fiddle and mandolin — what has it been like working with the band’s first second-generation band member, Jeff’s son, Jamie Hanna, on guitar?
Bob Carpenter: Jamie was out on the road with us when he was pretty much a toddler and he’s really steeped in our music, so it was a no-brainer bringing him into the band. He had been working with the country singer, Gary Allen, for years and it just seemed like a natural thing for him to come on board. And then the guy who was living across the street from Jamie was this world-class fiddle and mandolin player, Ross Holmes — they had been buddies for years — so the two of them came on board and it’s just been great.
And Jim Photoglo has been with us since 2016 when we did our 50th Anniversary Tour. We’ve known Jim for years — back in the ’80s we recorded his song, “Fishin’ in the Dark,” and he co-wrote other songs with some band members that have been on our records — so that just seemed like a natural thing, too. Jim’s a great singer, a great writer, and a great bass player, so it just worked out well because we were all already friends.
Spotlight Central: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be coming to MPAC in Morristown, NJ on October 9 with your All the Good Times; The Farewell Tour. What can listeners expect to hear at this performance?
Bob Carpenter: We’re gonna play music from all six decades of our career. We’re gonna do country hits. We’re gonna do “Fishin’.” We’re gonna do “Bojangles.” We’re gonna do bluegrass. We’re gonna do stuff from all the Circle records. So we’re gonna touch on everything — as much of the radio stuff that we can get to — and we’re gonna go way back, too. We’re gonna do “Partners, Brothers and Friends” and “Stand a Little Rain,” and stuff like “Ripplin’ Waters,” and some deep cuts from our records. We’re gonna try to get to as much stuff as we can — we’ve recorded almost 500 songs so it’s gonna be a little tough to fit everything in, but we’ll do the best we can.
Spotlight Central: It sounds like a lot of fun! Is there anything else you’d like to add or to say to your Jersey fans who’ve supported The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for all of these years?
Bob Carpenter: We’ve been doing this for 58 years now and that’s only because so many people have come out and supported our music — they bought our records and they called radio stations to get our songs played — and without that, we would have been out of business a long time ago. So we want to say “thank you” to everybody who supported us throughout our career — we so appreciate it. They bring their kids out to our shows and they bring their grandkids out, too, so we’re a multi-generational band now and we really appreciate it.
Also, you know, we try to play every show like it’s our last and we give it our all because people take the time out and spend their money to come out to see us and that’s what they deserve. After the pandemic, we know that every show really could be our last — you just never know — so we’re gonna continue to go for it, and we look forward to seeing everybody out at the show!
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band performs at 7:30 pm on October 9, 2024 at MPAC, located at 100 South Street in Morristown, NJ. Tickets are $49, $59, $69, and $79, with Premium VIP #1 Front Row and Premium VIP #2 Meet and Greet ticket packages available, as well. For tickets and/or more information, please go to mayoarts.org.
