Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Celebrates 60th Anniversary With Guest-Filled Grand Ole Opry Farewell

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band celebrated their 60th anniversary to the day with a concert at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on May 14. The band was joined by a roster of special guests including Jerry Douglas, Kathleen Edwards, Alison Brown and Suzy Bogguss.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band — co-founding members guitarist Jeff Hanna, drummer and harmonica player Jimmie Fadden and keyboardist Bob Carpenter, along with guitarist Jaime Hanna, bassist Jim Photoglo, and fiddler/mandolinist Ross Holmes — opened with Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” before they worked through a set that drew heavily on covers spanning country, folk, and rock — including Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country,” John Prine’s “Grandpa Was a Carpenter,” Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch,” alongside Dirt Band originals and fan favorites.

The guests made multiple appearances throughout the evening. Douglas joined early for “Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper’s Dream),” a Rodney Crowell cover, and returned throughout the night alongside Brown, Edwards and Bogguss for songs including “Make a Little Magic” and a cover of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song “Helpless.”

For their encore, the band performed “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?,” The Band’s “The Weight” and a reprise of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” — all featuring the full complement of guests.

“We appreciate y’all coming to our shows all these years and buying our records, and buying our cassettes, and buying our 8-track tapes,” said Hanna. “It’s not lost on us how lucky we are to have done this with you guys all these years.”

After a few weeks off, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will embark on the final leg of their farewell tour on June 5 in Dodge City, Kansas, before wrapping at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on June 18.