The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a quintessential American group. Formed in 1966 in Long Beach, Calif., the country-rock band — equally as influential in folk-rock's transition to country-rock as the Byrds — has released two dozen studio albums and collaborated with a never-ending list of greats during its long career. They're now tackling another epitome of American music: Bob Dylan's catalog. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 24th LP, Dirt Does Dylan, which features 10 Dylan covers, is out today.
It's been more than a decade since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's last album, 2009's Speed of Life, but when the idea of a single-sourced LP came up, Dylan seemed like an obvious choice. "He's been in our collective DNA for so long," singer, guitarist and founding member Jeff Hanna tells UCR. He can still vividly recall the first time he saw Dylan perform at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach on Dec. 5, 1964.
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