On Thursday, July 2, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform in the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum at 7:00 p.m. The performance is a part of the museum’s summer membership appreciation program, The Big Gig. The event is free for members; non-members are invited to attend by purchasing one of the museum’s membership packages, which start at $45 and provide numerous benefits. 

The evening will feature a performance by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in Nashville’s elegant new music venue. A Hatch Show Print poster will commemorate the experience. In addition to admission to the show, members will enjoy benefits throughout the year (benefits vary depending on membership package).

“When I was a young man back in Indiana, I was given a copy of Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” David Letterman said, earlier this month. “The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band produced this seminal collection of early American music … I just loved it.”

The museum also will host a special program at 12:30 p.m. on July 2, in which members of the Dirt Band (Jeff Hanna, Jimmie Fadden, Bob Carpenter, and John McEuen) will discuss the band’s three Will the Circle Be Unbroken projects, talk about encounters with their heroes and peers, and share insights into past recordings.

This program is included with museum admission and free to members, and will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming. The program is presented in connection with the exhibit Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City presented by Citi.

For a complete list of member benefits, and to purchase your membership package in advance, visit www.countrymusichalloffame.org/membership or call (615) 416-2026. Museum members may reserve their program passes in advance by phone (615) 416-2050) or email (reservations@countrymusichalloffame.org).  Reservations will be accepted until 48 hours before the program, or the program is at capacity. All tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis.

Who: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

What: The Big Gig
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s annual summer appreciation concert for members. Non-members are invited to attend by purchasing a membership package. Packages start at $45.

When: Thursday, July 2, 2015
6:30 p.m. CMA Theater doors open
7:00 p.m. Music starts

Where: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater
222 5th Avenue South (Access to museum is through the 5th avenue lobby; The Jerry & Ernie Williams Grand Lobby)

About the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band:
Jeff Hanna, Jimmie Fadden, Bob Carpenter, John McEuen
Forty-nine years into a remarkable career, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is often cited as a catalyst for an entire movement in country-rock and American roots music. The Grammy-winning band has recorded multi-platinum and gold records, and #1 country hits "Fishin' in the Dark,” “Long Hard Road (the Sharecropper’s Dream),” and “Modern Day Romance.” Their groundbreaking 1972 album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, has been inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry and into the Grammy Hall of Fame. NGDB’s 1968 recording of "Mr. Bojangles,” a Top Ten Billboard single that endures as a classic, was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Today, the band remains a touring and recording force. On their own and in collaboration with music heroes including Mother Maybelle Carter, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and Emmylou Harris, the NGDB has enlivened and illuminated the music we now call Americana.

Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture.  With the same educational mission, the foundation also operates CMF Records, the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print®.

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.