Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Performs Star Studded Farewell At Ryman

Last Thursday, November 7th, to a rousing ovation, Americana legends Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took the stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for their first of two ALL THE GOOD TIMES: The Farewell Tour shows. Founding members Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden—along with longtime band member Bob Carpenter and 2018 additions Jim Photoglo, Jamie Hanna, and Ross Holmes—wasted no time jumping right into the opening number, Bob Dylan and The Band’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” recorded by the group on the second volume of their Will The Circle Be Unbroken series in 1989. A quick audible guided the Dirt Band into “Partners, Brothers, and Friends” which got another lengthy applause from the engaged crowd as Hanna sang the song’s refrain: “It’s great to be part of something so good that’s lasted so long.”

Midway through the set, Hanna invited the night’s opening act back on, Wine, Women & Song. A trio of Nashville’s finest songwriters including Gretchen Peters, Suzy Bogguss, and Jeff Hanna’s wife Matraca Berg reappeared on stage to perform “Oh Cumberland,” a Berg-penned tune from the Circle Volume III album. With the mischievousness of a man a quarter of his age, Hanna recalled the recording of “Oh Cumberland,” recounting the personnel of the original session before “remembering” Emmylou Harris as he gestured stage right to the silver-haired voice of a generation as she walked on stage. Harris remained on stage as Hanna introduced Larkin Poe to join the band for “The Pain of Loving You” from 1987’s Trio record by Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt. Berg, Peters, and Bogguss returned once more to join Harris and Larkin Poe for an energetic version of Harris’s #1 hit, “Two More Bottles of Wine,” written by Delbert McClinton.

After the multitude of Thursday’s guests left the stage, the Dirt Band fired up the hit parade with performances of “Bless The Broken Road,” “Cadillac Ranch,” “Bayou Jubilee,” “Mr. Bojangles,” and “Fishin’ In The Dark” before exiting the dark stage to the fourth of fifth standing ovation of the night. Reappearing for the encore with Larkin Poe, the Dirt Band dusted off “I Shall Be Released,” recorded by the exact same lineup on 2022’s Dirt Does Dylan album. Harris, Peters, Bogguss, and Berg were invited back out for the one-two punch of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and The Band’s “The Weight” to close out night one.

The concert on Friday, November 8th brought opener Kathleen Edwards to the Ryman stage ahead of another turnstile of Dirt Band-guest collaborations. About midway through the Friday show, Hanna announced the first round of surprises, this time taking more of a bluegrass theme. Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and Alison Brown were invited to the stage to pick on Will The Circle Be Unbroken favorites “Nine Pound Hammer” and “My Walkin’ Shoes” before Molly Tuttle joined the Dirt Band for a fiery rendition of “I’m Sittin’ On Top Of The World.” Tuttle, Bush, and Douglas stuck around for “Black Mountain Rag” to put a bow on the string-band leaning set. Harmonica legend Mickey Raphael stepped in for a duel with Fadden on “John Henry” before the band segued into “Fishin’ In The Dark.” When the band returned to the stage for their final Ryman encore, Bush, Douglas, Brown, Tuttle, and Raphael joined them—as well as Matraca Berg and Kathleen Edwards—for another exhilarating show-closing medley of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and “The Weight.”

These two shows mark the last of this leg of the ALL THE GOOD TIMES Tour. The Dirt Band will head back out in February and March 2025 for another set of farewell shows throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The bolded March 2-28 dates below were announced this morning. Tickets for these concerts go on sale Fri. November 15 at 10 a.m. CST

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