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Since my conversation with Kinderhook Creek founding member and Yuri Turchyn’s bandmate, Jerry (Yaropolk) Kopychuk, I am digging deeper into the archaeological levels of their music from the beginning when they were an acoustic quartet unearthing their very first recording, Thousand Stops to Nowhere. As a composer and lyricist, Yuri’s influences can be traced to Simon and Garfunkel, Jimmie Webb, and JD Souther’s soulful sounds of yearning in their love songs. Sad and longing to be with the one you love. Yuri wrote many songs for the special person in his life at the time. It’s a moment. Listening to this beautiful tune, I felt at that moment the same as I had a lifetime ago.
The music and live shows during their run were exceptional. I knew I had to go after Jerry mentioned Richie Furay’s (Poco, Souther, Hillman, and Furay) final show on tour at SOPAC. As fortune smiled upon me, I bought the last ticket and took a ride back to the Garden State, where I witnessed a marvelous show blending generations while keeping the basics intact for the audience’s enjoyment. After missing JD Souther’s show a week later, he died. Thus, I vowed not to miss the music that strongly influenced the band and Yuri’s writing and composition. I aim to experience the bands and players still around (most recently, I saw the Beach Boys’ fantastic show at Bergen Pac in Englewood) who impacted Kinderhook Creek and Yuri’s early recordings. Coming up is the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and their last traditionally scheduled gig, All The Good Times: The Farewell Tour, which marks the end of multi-city runs and long bus rides.
Listen in on the Capitol Theatre story as Jerry and Yuri tell it, where the players from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band searched the dressing rooms at the Capitol for Yuri practicing Jean Luc Ponty’s New Country (1976) and being invited to jam with them on stage with Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Iconic and profoundly influential, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was a pivotal force in the Country Rock movement of the 1970s, a trend that shaped American Roots music. The latest Dirt Band lineup is expanded to six members for the first time since 1968. Today’s group consists of founding member Jeff Hanna, harp master Jimmie Fadden (who joined in 1966), and Bob Carpenter. Those veterans are joined by singer-songwriter-bass man Jim Photoglo, fiddle and mandolin player Ross Holmes, and Hanna’s son, the talented singer and guitarist Jaime Hanna. Recent tributes to JD Souther (who died a week after a show I was supposed to attend but at the last minute gave my ticket to a friend) and Kris Kristofferson, whose compositions and lyrics were part of the influences in the country and Americana Roots sound shows their respect for their peers and contemporaries.
This groundbreaking album has been inducted into the U.S. Library of Congress and the Grammy Hall of Fame, solidifying their place in music history. It’s something I wish for Kinderhook. Now the time has come for the band to say so long to the highways and byways they’ve crossed an unimaginable number of times throughout their career. It’s going to be an unforgettable event I plan not to miss.