Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in Branson Missouri

In 1969, the members of the three year-old Nitty Gritty Dirt Band almost packed it in for good, unsure of where the young group was heading next in its career or with its hybrid sound. Thirty-seven years later the remaining foursome - weathered, well-traveled, arguably wiser - is enjoying its 40th Anniversary.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s pioneering spirit, its eagerness to experiment and desire to explore the by-ways and gravel roads of America’s musical past has exerted a profound effect on our present-day pop culture.

Will The Circle Be Unbroken, cut live to two-track in Nashville over six days, remains such a pivotal cultural moment that it was one of 50 recordings honored and preserved by the Library of Congress.

The band members, regularly nominated over the years as songwriters and artists, were awarded their most recent Grammy in 2004, Best Country Instrumental, for “Earl’s Breakdown,” a track that featured the titular Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Jerry
Douglas.