Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Get Nittier, Grittier on New Album

Beloved roots-rockers the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have finished work on Speed of Life, their first studio album in five years, . Out September 22 on NGDB Records, and distributed by SugarHill, the new LP features core band members Jeff Hanna, Jimmie Fadden, Bob Carpenter, and John McEuen.

The album was recorded in Nashville’s Blackbird Studio and produced by studio guru George Massenburg and Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Jon Randall Stewart, and features plenty of John McEuen’s banjo work. Among the album’s 13 tracks (written by the band with help from friends like Guy Clark) are two covers: Canned Heat’s “Going Up The Country” and “Stuck In The Middle” by Stealer’s Wheel.

Here’s the track list for Speed of Life:

1. Tulsa Sounds Like Trouble To Me (Shawn Camp / Mark D. Sanders)

2. Brand New Heartache (Jeff Hanna / Donny Lowery)

3. The Resurrection (Matraca Berg / Alice Randall)

4. Somethin’ Dangerous (Bob Carpenter / Tom Kell / Phil Soussan)

5. Going Up The Country (Alan Wilson)

6. Jimmy Martin (Phil Madeira / Jimmie Lee Sloas)

7. Lost In The Pines (John McEuen)

8. Speed of Life (Gary Scruggs)

9. Amazing Love (Bob Carpenter / Jeff Hanna / Tom Kell)

10. Stuck In The Middle (Joe Egan / Gerry Rafferty)

11. Earthquake (Bob Carpenter / John McEuen)

12. Tryin’ To Try (Jimmie Fadden / Guy Clark)

13. It’s Good To Be Alive (Matraca Berg / Troy Verges)