Dirt on the Strings: The Instrumental Collection (2004)

About this title: One Way's Dirt on the Strings features 12 instrumental highlights from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 30-plus years together. This is progressive bluegrass/country at its best, showcasing Jeff Hannah and John McEuen at their most forward-thinking and reverent. From the slow wind harp intro to Symphonion Dream's "Winterwhite" -- written in a hotel stairwell by the whole band during a collective bout of insomnia -- to the deep woods thunder of Vassar Clements' "Lonesome Fiddle Blues," Dirt is a compact reminder of the band's substantial impact on the genre. However, that very same brevity keeps ... read more

Tracks:

1. Soldier's Joy [Traditional]
2. Winterwhite (Wind Harp)/Raleigh-Durham Reel [Hanna/McEuen/Fadden]
3. Lonesome Fiddle Blues [Clements]
4. Randy Lynn Rag [Scruggs]
5. Chicken Reel [Traditional]
6. Listen to the Mockingbird [Clements]
7. Clinch Mountain Backstep [Rokes]
8. Togary Mountain [McEuen]
9. Return to Dismal Swamp, Pt. 2 [McEuen/McEuen]
10. Clemente Opus 36 [McEuen]
11. Foggy Mountain Breakdown [Scruggs]
12. Jas'moon [Hanna/Hathaway/Brig]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.