John McEuen, is an American folk musician and entertainer. A founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He played with the band from 1966 to 1986, and returned in 2001 to present.The group prior to that 'dissolved' a few times briefly, but none as long as in 1968, right after spending 4 months working on the Paramount Pictures Paint Your Wagon. Then, Jeff Hanna went on to play with Linda Ronstadt, John did various solo gigs and worked in Vegas with Andy Williams, and frequented the L.A. music scene, occasionally running in to Jeff. It was in a So. Cal club, the famed Golden Bear, one night in early 1969, where John and Hanna were watching POCO that they said "we can do this! let's put it back together and find a singing drummer...". The short search led them to Jimmy Ibbotson, fresh in from the Baltimore and Philly area, and whose participation with the group began in 1969. John is known as a multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, composer, and especially recognized as a pioneer stylist on the 5-string banjo and other acoustic colorings he adds to recordings with the other instruments. 

December 19th, 1945 in Oakland (Age 78)