Anthology

 An Interview with John McEuen

by Casey Pukl 

If there’s one thing that’s evident when talking to John McEuen, it’s that he’s like any other parent who is proud of their children. It’s just that not everyone elses’ kids have played with Dave Mason, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, or sold 20,000 records out of the back of their car. Needless to say, McEuen has a lot to be proud of.

This interview is going to be in a bit of a different format than most- mostly because there was a ton of ground to cover, and I couldn’t bring myself to cut much of these interviews. So today, I’ll bring you part 1 of my chat with John McEuen, tomorrow you’ll get part 2, which is my chat with Nathan McEuen, and then later this week, part 3 will be more with John! Get ready, y’all, because you’re in for a treat. Read on to find out what John’s experience has been like playing with his two sons!

CP: What has it been like working with your kids on this latest project?

JM: Well, I don’t think of them as kids anymore. I grew up with then when they were kids, and then they started getting into music. They’re now 31 and 35, and they’re really on their own in their own right. My young men are now the couple of session players that I would hire for my own projects. I got the players that I wanted, and I happened to be related to them, so it was a good thing! It’s really a wonderful thing.

You know what’s strange about it is that there are a lot of things that happen musically when we’re not even looking at each other, and we’ll hit the same note or the same complementary note. We were doing a TV show in Kentucky, and we extended the end of a song for about 20 seconds, and all it took was for Jonathan to look at me and raise his eyebrow. We didn’t have to talk about it; I knew what he meant. It’s magical things like that that are hard to find in music.

CP: Did you teach them how to play when they were growing up?

JM: You know, it’s hard for me to say that because I would show them one guitar lick, and then five minutes later, it turned into five guitar licks. As they got older into their teens, I’d be the one saying, “How did you do that? (laughs).” The acorns got bigger than the tree in my life! It was quite an exciting thing.

But originally sure, I showed them some chords, I showed them a few things, but they took it and expanded on it. Then, because of their backgrounds and what they were listening to, they expanded.

Jonathan always tells me he was six years old backstage with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and he was listening to the music from behind, and that was exciting to him. But then he saw and heard the audience reacting, and he wanted to be out there.

I knew when he was in 6^th grade that he was destined to be on a stage in some fashion. In sixth grade, he was the lead in the play, “The King and I”. He was a sixth grader playing the lead in a high school play. So they rehearsed for a couple of months, then they ran five weeks of the show, it was extended for two weeks. At the end of the last show, I went backstage to go and find him and tell him what a great job he did, and I couldn’t find him. Someone said he was in the broom closet, so I went to the broom closet, and there he is in there crying! So I said, “Are you ok?” And he says, “What am I going to do now? It’s over!” (Laughs)

And then with Nathan, he started playing, and then he got on stage for the first time, and he was just comfortable. He knocked people out! There’s a picture on the album of him sitting on the edge of a stage. That was in Branson, Missouri. I invited him up on stage, and he had the shirt, he combed his hair, and he was smiling. After it was over he said, “Did I do good?” And I told him it was hard to follow him, and that’s what we need (laughs)!

I wouldn’t let my kids on because they were cute, although they were cute, and they still are. But I let them on because they were good. They rehearsed something, and they could do it. They could make people laugh and clap.

That’s kind of what it was like watching them grow, and then they started writing their own songs and adding their influences. They have their own accomplishments to be proud of. Nathan has sold about 20,000 albums just on his own just from stage and CD Baby and stuff. And Jonathan is Dave Mason’s favorite guitar player.

Dave kind of took Jonathan under his wing. Jonathan moved out to Ojai and it took him about three years, but on Dave’s last album, Jonathan played guitar and sang background vocals on it.

It was really great when Jonathan called me from Dave Mason’s studio last year. “Only You Know and I Know” is a Dave Mason song we did on this album. But Jonathan called me from Dave’s studio and said, “Dave’s listening to the rough mix!” Then he called me back about an hour later and was really excited about it and said, “Dave wants to add a vocal on it!” So on track 14 of this album, you’ll hear Dave yell, “We’re going country!” (Laughs).

When I was that age, my highlight was being able to record with Earl Scruggs. He created the bluegrass banjo. Jonathan has that, and Nathan has been able to play and sing with a lot of people, write a song with Crosby Loggins, Kenny’s son. That’s on the album.

I try to think of analogies for this, and it’s like being a chef that has had some success, but I wasn’t very good at dessert. But then they started cooking, and not only could they make everything I was cooking, but they could make desserts too (laughs)!

What we do live reflects all those influences that they had, from Phish to Dave Mason to Nirvana to rock and roll— the Beatles, Little River Band. When they were 9 and 11 years old, they’d make Little River Band music videos singing the songs. They knew how to make a music video, you know? It’s just such a riot to watch some of these. Seeing a ten year old sing “Lonesome Loser” (laughs).

I remember one time Jonathan told me it was really tough in high school getting made fun of with his long hair and playing the guitar, that stuff. And he told me he didn’t say anything about it, but he used to tell me, “Dad, it’s tough to hear that stuff when just the night before, I was on stage with Vince Gill and Charlie Daniels playing solos and singing harmonies. Then I have these high school kids ask me who do I think I am, and I don’t think I’m anybody, but those people liked what I was doing.” He knows he wouldn’t have been out there doing that unless they did.

Vince Gill told me once several years ago that he was going to turn around to see who was coming up behind him, and it was going to be Jonathan (laughs). I didn’t tell Jonathan that.

And Nathan, he would have similar things happen.  I’d have people tell me what a great guy he is and that he knocked them out.

They aren’t doing what their father did. They do their own thing.

Be sure to stay tuned to part 2 of The McEuen Sessions— an interview with Nathan McEuen! In the mean time, keep yourself busy with this Spotify link, and preview John’s latest record with his sons!

The McEuen Sessions on Spotify

WHAT: John McEuen & Sons Nathan and Jonathan
WHEN: Sunday, April 29, 7:00 pm
TICKETS: $10-$29 Buy Tickets
MORE INFO: Artist Profile