Nitty Gritty Dirt Band announces 'Night After Night' EP

Jerry Douglas produced the five-song collection

When Grammy-winning artist, guitarist, and producer Buddy Miller calls you up and says, “Hey, I’ve got a song you oughta hear,” anyone in their right mind would have a listen. In this case, the voice on the other end of the line was Nitty Gritty Dirt Band co-founder Jeff Hanna, and boy, what a song it turned out to be. “Night After Night,” the Dirt Band’s new single and the first listen from the group’s upcoming EP of the same name, is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-esque rocker perfectly suited to kick off their first release of all-new music since 2009’s Speed of Life and a follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2022 release, Dirt Does Dylan.

“My friend, Buddy Miller, sent me the tune ‘Night After Night,’ written by two of my favorites: Paul Kennerley and Daniel Tashian,” remembers Hanna. “The band’s response was an immediate ‘Oh, hell yes!’”

Produced by fellow Grammy-winner and dobro master Jerry Douglas—who first met the Dirt Band at the age of 19 and went on to play on the group’s first No. 1 single, “Long Hard Road”—“Night After Night” finds Hanna joined by bandmates Jimmie Fadden on drums, Bob Carpenter on harmony vocals and Hammond organ, Jaime Hanna on electric guitar and harmony vocals, and Ross Holmes on mandolin, plus guest musicians Viktor Krauss on acoustic bass and Tic-Tac bass and Douglas on lap steel guitar.

Due out on October 24th, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Night After Night EP was recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and The Tractor Shed Studio in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and was mixed by Sean Sullivan alongside Hanna and Douglas. The new EP is a family affair for Hanna, who co-wrote three of the new songs. “Nashville Skyline” was co-written by Hanna, his wife and celebrated songwriter, Matraca Berg, and his son and bandmate, Jaime. While Jeff Hanna takes on lead vocals on three of the five tracks, Jaime steps up to the center microphone on the other two.

A limited number of vinyl copies of Night After Night—with music on one side and a special etching on the other—as well as CDs, are available through the band’s website.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is in the middle of their All the Good Times: The Farewell Tour and will hit the stage again on October 3rd for a special set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, California.