BY SAMANTHA CALDERONE, STAFF WRITER
Sept. 19, 1980:
The Dirt Band, known for its bluegrass, rock and country music roots, performed on a Friday night at University of Scranton.
The band played in the John Long Center to kick off the season’s student concert series. Almost 2,200 students were in attendance. The band played a variety of hits, such as “American Dream,” “Make a Little Magic” and its cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles.”
“Nitty Gritty Dirt Band” took a break during rehearsals. The band appeared with“The Buoys” and Don McClain at the University of Scranton in September 1975. Submitted Photo
A review in The Scranton Times noted, “Listening to the Dirt Band isn’t as much a concert as it seems to be a brisk trip through an animated, long-playing, instrumental-vocal history book.”
Band members consisted of Jimmie Faddon, Jeff Hanna, Bob Carpenter, Richard Hathaway, John McEuen and Michael Gardner. McEuen was known for his musical talents on the banjo, fiddle, mandolin and a variety of guitars.
“The Dirt Band,” formerly “The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band” performed at the University of Scranton on Sept. 19, 1980. Submitted Photo
Over the years, the band performed at U of S again, including in September 1975 when it played alongside Don McClain and the Buoys, and again in 1977.
The band formed in 1966 under the name the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and changed it to the Dirt Band in 1977. By 1982, the band returned to its original name. Currently, the band consists of three long-time members, Faddon, Hanna and Carpenter, and three newer members, Jim Photoglo, Jaime Hanna and Ross Holmes.
The band will perform Sunday, Oct. 6, at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe. Contact the writer: (scalderone@timesshamrock.com; (570-348-9127
Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 15 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He is also the co-host of the local history podcast, Historically Hip. He competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.” Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast
