Ravinia 2025 Issue 4

In addition to Hanna, the current lineup includes original member Jimmie Fadden (drums), four-decade veteran Bob Carpenter (keyboards), multi-instrumentalists Ross Holmes and Jim Photoglo, and Jaime Hanna, Jeff ’s son, a guitarist and singer-songwriter. The gender-fluid band has gone through several iterations since their beginnings as a jug band in Long Beach, CA. The longest they were off the road was during the pandemic. “We played a show March 12, 2020, the curtain came down on March 13, and we didn’t perform again until August of 2021,” Hanna said. But while NGDB is saying goodbye to the road, they are not saying goodbye to the recording studio. The band plans to release an EP produced by dobro legend Jerry Douglas in the fall and “a track or two before the summer’s over,” Hanna said. It will be their first recording since their excellent 2022 tribute album, Dirt Does Dylan . As an artist, and especially as a musician, I imagine you are always looking forward. What is it like for you to reflect on a more than 60-year career? The main word is gratitude ; looking back at what a great life we’ve had, being able to do what we love. We’ve played to crowds of 40 people and 40,000 people. Each was a different, but rewarding and enriching experience for us. In terms of musical influences, you were around 10 when Elvis had his breakthrough. What impact did that have on you? My family moved to Phoenix from Detroit when I was 8. My older brother Mike, who was five years older than me, brought home these records—Elvis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard. Jerry Lee Lewis. My world just exploded. Phoenix was the home of Duane Eddy, another guitar hero. I remember my grand- mother worked in a department store and she once waited on Duane’s wife. She said to me, “Have you ever heard of a guy named Duane Eddy?” This is another “pinch me” thing: Duane became a good friend of mine when we both lived in Nashville. He was a super charming, generous, engaging guy. I just loved rock and roll. I wasn’t playing music yet; it was more a lifestyle thing, teenage angst, James Dean and all that. I didn’t start playing until I was 15. What was your introduction to bluegrass? My gateway album for bluegrass was—believe it or not—the Joan Baez album with the Greenbriar Boys [ Joan Baez: Volume II, released in 1961]. My big brother, again. It included “Banks of the Ohio” and “Pal of Mine.” After rock and roll came the folk music. Can you talk about the band’s origins? McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Long Beach was a music store, not a music venue. They sold acoustic instruments. The proprietors were kind enough to let us drink our coffee and jam all day while we were cutting classes and avoiding school. McCabe’s was our clubhouse and higher education. I was 19 when we got our first record deal; my parents had to co-sign. We went almost directly from high school into being on the road with bands like The Doors. Do you remember where you were when you heard “Mr. Bojangles” on the radio for the first time? I do remember the first time I heard “Buy for Me the Rain.” That was one of those records that was a huge hit on the West Coast and the East Coast, but not so much in the Midwest. That was something. It was like, “Yeah, we can go to McDonalds and or- der anything.” It’s still a thrill to hear yourself on the radio. Peo- ple will send a recording from their car when one of our tunes comes on Sirius XM. That’s the dream: “We got on the radio.” For readers of a certain age, Will the Circle Be Unbroken was our gateway bluegrass album. But it seems like such an auda- cious project: a three-record set of roots music before roots music was cool, California long-hairs playing with country music icons. How did you sell the record company on that? It evolved from a series of organic events, like the stars and planets aligning. First, we had leverage. We had done the Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy album, which I still think is one of the band’s best records, certainly an important album in our career. It had “Bojangles” on it, a couple of great Michael Nesmith songs, a song by Randy Newman, and a couple by a young songwriter named Kenny Loggins. It was such a fun record to make. It also had a couple of bluegrass instrumentals. We played our first tour of the South, and we were a little leery of going into what we called Easy Rider land. Turned out, most of it was really great and the audiences welcomed us. We played Vanderbilt University and Gary Scruggs—Earl Scruggs’s oldest son—brought the whole family to our show. To get his parents to come, he played them our version of Earl’s “Randy Lynn Rag.” Earl told his son, “I want to hear that boy who played that banjo.” It was a sold-out show and a really great night for us. Afterward, we sat around backstage and bonded with the Scruggs family. On the way out the door, Earl says something along the lines of, “If you boys would ever like to do some recording, I would love to.” He left and we were all like, “What just happened?” Our genius manager, Bill McEuen [the older brother of band co-founder John McEuen, who departed the band in 2017 to pursue solo projects] called us up a few weeks later and said, “Let’s take Earl up on his offer, but let’s expand this thing to bring in this list of folks we admire.” We were already making the record when Earl asked how we would feel if he brought in “Mother” Maybelle Carter. She was my first guitar hero. When I was sitting around McCabe’s learning how to play acoustic guitar, one of the prerequisites was “Wildwood Flower.” To be sitting in a room singing and playing with the Queen was RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 21 – AUG. 3, 2025 12