Country, bluegrass, and Americana legend John McEuen is thrilled to be back and better than ever after a close call with a double heart attack that led to triple bypass surgery on April 5, just as his new album, The Newsman: A Man of Record, was about to release. Following over two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit and three months of physical therapy, McEuen is happy to announce a clean bill of health from his doctors. He’s also released a new children’s book, The Mountain Whippoorwill: (Or, How Hill-Billy Jim Won the Great Fiddlers’ Prize), and is embarking on a new tour starting August 3 and stopping at the Franklin Theatre on November 17th. He will also be receiving the Musicians Lifetime Achievement Award on October 27 at The Josie Awards in Nashville, Tennessee at the Grand Ole Opry House. Find tickets here.
“After performing “Whippoorwill” for 30 years with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I was finally able to turn it into a children’s book,” shares McEuen. “The hope is that some of the fans who loved it in the ’70s and ’80s will want a copy to read to their grandchildren, or maybe just to themselves. My friend Steve Martin and I performed this together a few times in the early days (I played the banjo, and he recited the poem) as we both learned it in high school! With the help of artists Buddy Finehy and Jas Ingram, we turned the idea into a reality. Steve wrote the foreword, which I was very excited about. It is now available autographed on my website at JohnMcEuen.com.”
McEuen’s long-awaited album, The Newsman: A Man Of Record, is available now on Compass Records. In this project for McEuen, the album has ten spoken word tracks and one instrumental piece. Each one tells a special story in a way that’s like a play, with John’s own style of music in the background. The album starts with a story about a newspaper seller who had a big impact on John when he was getting started in Los Angeles and ends with “Jules’ Theme,” a song inspired by Jules Verne in a French cemetery talking about his young wife, who had recently passed away (piano, bass, guitar by John McEuen).
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