The
Dillards to Appear at 49th Walnut Valley Festival
Winfield, Kansas - From
Mayberry to Winfield, The Dillards are looking forward to meeting fans of their
music in September. Though The Dillards were already an established bluegrass
band in the mid 1950’s, one of their biggest claims to fame is performing musically
as members of the fictional Darling
family in a recurring role between 1963 and 1968 on The Andy Griffith Show, thus introducing
bluegrass to many Americans. Some of their songs like “Dooley”, “The Old Home Place” and “There Is a
Time” are just as popular today and are often heard at jam sessions in the
campgrounds at the Walnut Valley Festival and other music festivals around the
world.
Although often associated with bluegrass, The Dillards have had an enormous influence on American
music in general. Considered to be one of the pioneers of Southern California folk rock,
country rock
and progressive bluegrass genres. They are known to
have influenced artists such as The Eagles,
The Byrds,
John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and even Elton John.
In 1972, The Dillards joined Elton John on his first American tour. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin has also
acknowledged their influence, particularly in his decision to play the
mandolin.
From their beginning in the mid 1950’s Rodney
Dillard and his brother Douglas performed as a duo and later organized the band
The Dillards. Original band members were a driving force in modernizing and
popularizing the sound of bluegrass in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Rodney Dillard
(guitar) and Douglas Dillard (banjo) grew up playing music with their family
and friends (including a teenaged John Hartford) in Missouri. After meeting
Dean Webb they recruited him to play mandolin and bass for a self-produced
recording which ended up in the hands of Mitch Jayne. Mitch was a one-room
school teacher who hosted a radio show called “Hickory Holler Time,” in Salem,
Missouri. Jayne attracted the attention of a manager when he was visiting his
sister in California in 1961. Mitch went back to Missouri to tell the guys he
wanted to learn bass and join the band.
After releasing 21 albums from 1963 through 2006,
current band members – Rodney Dillard (guitar, vocals) and his wife Beverly
Cotton-Dillard (clawhammer banjo, vocals), Tony Wray, featured guest (guitar,
banjo, harmony vocals), Cory Walker (banjo), Gary Smith (double bass), and
George Giddens (fiddle, mandolin, harmony vocal) - got together with some of
their friends including Herb Pedersen, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon of the
Eagles, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Sharon and Cheryl White to make a new recording
in 2020. The band’s 22nd album is called “Old Road New Again” and
includes 11 tracks and features appearances by the numerous friends previously
listed.
The Dillards’ stopover in Winfield for their
appearance at the Walnut Valley Festival will be one of the final few
live shows for this historic band before they all load up on the truck and head
back to the hills. For tickets or additional information about the Walnut
Valley Festival go to wvfest.com, call (620)221-3250 or stop by the festival
office at 918 Main Street in Winfield, Kansas.
