Chuck Mead came on the bus late on the last day of shooting. There was a woman who had also joined us and claimed to be his neighbor. She told the story of how everybody in the neighborhood would grab their children when Chuck decided it was time to mow the lawn. I wondered if it was because he mows shirtless. Chuck said that neighbors "grabbed their children in fear" because his mower technique was a bit "nontraditional."

When I began to sling a camera about the room, Chuck started to work the lens and play to the camera. I told him this wasn't Hee Haw, and mugging the camera would only alienate viewers of Music Fog. Chuck told me he was "old school" and learned from the best. There was friendly banter about when I would start or stop rolling. I told Chuck that every time he mugged the lens I would fine him $10. He thought that was fair.

This song cost Chuck Mead $10.00. It is really the first money Music Fog has ever made.

God bless you Chuck Mead.

-Beans

Here's a band that is truly an American institution. They go way back to 1966. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was THERE, for everything. They are such a part of the musical & political fabric of this country, yet when they came aboard the Music Fog/Celebrity Coaches bus in Nashville you would of thought they were trying to be discovered.

Unpretentious is probably the word that best describes the setting. And when John McEuen pulled out the banjo he intended to play for the session, the camera was drawn to it. You just could not take your eyes off of it. I began to wonder what history it had witnessed. It was obviously very old, and yet had a gentle sound. It became the one item in the room that reminded us all that The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was THERE, for everything. They had witnessed and been a part of The Summer of Love. When Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix climbed to the top, they were there. When The Fillmore West was the center of the musical universe, they were there. And they never stopped.

I asked John about the banjo's history after the session was over. He told me it was built in the 20s, muttered something else, then shut the case and told me to "stop looking at it." Maybe because to him it was just a banjo. Or maybe, just maybe, it is all powerful and is the secret to life itself. One will never know.

Here is NGDB with the title track from their latest work Speed of Life.

-Beans