Music isn't a joke to him, mind you. But the fact that the American roots and country rock band is still influencing generations of musicians and fans after 45 years is entertaining to the drummer, harmonica player and singer — even a little amusing.
“I'm currently cool,” Fadden said, laughing. “What goes around comes around.”
Indeed, the music the band members tapped into beginning in the late 1960s has seen a resurgence during the past decade, much of it lumped into the category of Americana. While traditional country stars such as Maybelle Carter and Roy Acuff may have looked a bit different than the long-haired “dirt band” hippies as they came together to record the 1972 platinum album “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” artists in the 2011 folk scene have melded the styles of those generations together in look and sound.
Americana is both old and new, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band helped bring the scene about.
They'll perform 8 p.m. Friday at the Shoals Theatre, 123 N. Seminary St., Florence, with Shoals band Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil opening.
“I have been a fan of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for as long as I can remember, and it just seemed like a perfect show to have in the Shoals,” concert promoter J.D. McCorkle said in an email.
“This band is an iconic act that has collaborated with many musical legends and created great music. ‘Fishin' in the Dark' is a classic that people young and old still know and can sing along to. There aren't many acts still playing live with that kind of power, to stay relevant over multiple generations.”
The band has racked up more than a dozen Top 10 hits throughout the years, from “Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)” to “Baby's Got a Hold On Me,” and numerous nominations and awards. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume II” in 1989 won the Country Music Award for Album of the Year as well as three Grammy Awards.
The present lineup for the band is original members Fadden, Jeff Hanna and John McEuen, who returned in 2001 after a 14-year absence, and Bob Carpenter, who has been with the band since 1980.
Fadden spoke in a telephone interview about Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's musical influence and what they are up to after 45 years.
TimesDaily: Is this your first time playing in the Shoals? If not, I'm sure it's been a while since you played here.
Jimmie Fadden: After being on the road as long as we have, it's hard to say. (Laughing) ... Well, we played in Muscle Shoals, but it's been a long, long time. Many, many, many, many years ago.
TD: How often do you guys tour during the year?
Fadden: We play maybe 50 shows a year, somewhere around that. Which I guess is reasonable for people our age.
TD: How old are you?
Fadden: I don't want to talk about that. (Laughing) We're not quite Social Security age yet, but getting there.
TD: There's plenty to discuss in a career that has lasted 45 years, but I'd like to go back to 1966 first.
Fadden: Oh no, not the '60s!
TD: It's interesting that the style of music the band began with then is popular now, described as Americana.
Fadden: Yeah, to some degree I think there's some relevance there. There are some comparisons. There weren't as many examples then, so I guess if you could put us in a group of people that were taking their country and Americana music roots and applying what they believe to be currently important to them ... what you would call Americana.
I know there's been a lot of comparisons. A lot of people suggest that there were a number of us that were in the forefront (of that movement), and I guess that's so.
TD: You started out playing washtub bass and the jug — very roots music.
Fadden: Yes, and more eclectic. It's always roots, it's just a matter of what roots you're talking about. Are you talking about Buddy Holly roots music? Earl Scruggs roots? ... I guess, you know, the influences that we had were quite varied, some of them more contemporary. Certainly more (of) people that have never been heard of. ... It was probably multigenerational. We didn't have something just from one era. We were listening to music from the '20s as well as the '50s. So what can I say? It's a great big smorgasbord.
We have a lot of different interests in the band. It's kind of what propelled us from rather obscure mountain music to Delta blues artists to more contemporary players. Just a variety of people and musical types. Just like any other young person that likes music, you just start soaking it up. We were 18 and 19 when we started doing this.
Roots music has always been outsider music. I think for a lot of people, they feel socially outside the norm. They don't feel comfortable in what is termed currently pop. Therefore they look for something that's a little more authentic. And I think that's why we have a support for this kind of music like we did then, albeit much larger now than it was then. Sort of like the folk music scare in the '60s.
TD: Was it really that scary, or was some of that reaction a joke?
Fadden: It's sort of a joke. It was going to become popular, and therefore it was a scare. The idea that “we all may be listening to this.”
Before, others from other walks of life probably felt that there was a group of people out there listening to some pretty strange stuff ... wondering if we're all gonna have to participate. Maybe a little bit like when grunge music came about.
There have been those reactions to different kinds of music nationwide. We always have that sort of thing. When our parents thought that long hair was the end of the world, you know, just like their parents thought that Bill Haley was corrupt or some of those other people. Benny Goodman. Swing music, look out! They're doing the jitterbug! We're all sort of victims of that as we go along.
There are a group of people that long for something that is fundamental and earthy and speaks to their values — that is to their ear authentically American. And I think there always will be.
TD: Well, that sound is what people are doing now.
Fadden: I'm currently cool. (Laughing) What goes around comes around.
TD: It was cool to see the band's 1987 No. 1 hit, “Fishin' in the Dark,” hit 500,000 digital downloads in May.
Fadden: That's very cool. We've got a great audience out there that enjoys what we do. I don't know that we try and classify it musically. We try to choose songs out of our repertoire that people will enjoy the most. I think our music is about having fun in general. It's about the things in life that we think are important. ... You know, we're pretty easy-going country guys. Boys just want to have fun. (Starts singing Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” except with the word “boys.”)
TD: How would you describe your music now?
Fadden: I don't know. We go through phases where we have this idea of combining certain influential things and see what we gain from it. I think most musical acts love to explore their musical interests. Remember when The Beatles used all the music from India? It's not unlike that. It's just the idea that we want to try different things. Those are shoes we like to walk around in. They're fun. It's like putting on a different coat or a tie or something. We change our musical clothing. We like to change our musical hats, so to speak. They're all country hats.
Nonetheless, I believe that we love to explore our musical interests. Songs on the (2009) “Speed of Life” record kind of really tell you how it is. There's a Cajun kind of song on there. We love music from Louisiana. There's a ballady thing on there, there's a swing thing. There's all kinds of things on there. Songs that we like because we've liked the songs for so long. “Hey, these are cool songs, let's play them.”
I think maybe essentially we've just decided we don't need to overthink it too much, you know? You should just do what you like to do. Of course, the other guys in the band will go, “What do you mean by that man?!”
TD: Are you ever surprised by the songs fans latch onto and which ones become the biggest hits? For example, your cover of “Mr. Bojangles.”
Fadden: It's a pleasant surprise to say the least. We record these songs because we like them. We have a connection to them. The acceptance of them, I think from an audience standpoint of view, isn't something that we could even consider premeditatedly. Essentially, we hope you like them all and if you like one more than the other, that's great.
“Mr. Bojangles,” it just didn't appear to us about a 3/4-time, long song about an old man and a dog would be radio fare, albeit a great song. We thought, “That is the coolest song.” The idea of recording it for a project was like, “Yeah, sure.” The idea that it actually could have been chosen for a single was like, “What? Sure, if you wanna.” You know, it speaks to people. And I think that's great.
We're kind of a storyteller, songwriter band. We tend to find songs that are interesting in context. “Hey, I have an interesting story to share.” Some of the coolest songs are like that. ... Interesting songwriter songs that people have taken to heart and love. They've become part of their personal soundtrack. I think that's what we're all hoping to do, is trying to be part of somebody's musical soundtrack.
That really works for us as a band or as musicians or as songwriters, to have people enjoy our music on that level. It's surprising sometimes what people tell you about music in their lives. It's very rewarding in that sense.
TD: What songs are a part of your own musical soundtrack? And which artists are you following these days?
Fadden: “Up on Cripple Creek,” The Band. Bob Dylan, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Taj Mahal, “Fishin' Blues.” Those are three songs I can name right off the bat. ... Paul Butterfield, “Born in Chicago.” Chet Atkins, “Windy and Warm.” Doc Watson, “Way Downtown.” I have a real kind of varied list. I've got all kinds of stuff. Ry Cooder, “Mexican Divorce.”
I've got a lot of cool little stuff and little things that are just favorites of mine, and once and awhile I'll have to sing it. (Starts singing “Mexican Divorce.”) Most of it's pretty old, though. You ask Jack, he'd probably have something new. He'd like The Avett Brothers, he's listening to something like that. Jeff likes Mumford and Sons.
Have you heard the Carolina Chocolate Drops? They're really good. That's a new generation Americana from my perspective. That is essentially very traditional in form with a personal approach. Claw hammer banjo and mandolin and bones and whatever else they can conjure up. It's very folk, but it's contemporary also.
TD: So are y'all based in Nashville?
Fadden: I think essentially you could say the band is. None of us except for Jeff lives there anymore. We are all over; we are basically a scattered bunch. I live in Florida.
TD: Are you working on any new material?
Fadden: Not at the moment. We're touring and having a good time, playing music for people. ... Maybe we'll get in the studio here in awhile, who knows.
TD: Is there anything you'd like to add?
Fadden: Just come to our show and have a good time. (Laughing)
Sarah Carlson can be reached at 256-740-5722 or sarah.carlson@TimesDaily.com.
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