One of the hidden jewels of our city is the Vail Theater of the Arts, a state-of-the-art facility located on Mary Ann Cleveland Way. The 593 seat theater is owned and operated by the Vail Unified School District. Several times a year the theater hosts an out-of-town professional artist. On November 14th, the city of Vail was treated to the remarkable musical artistry of Nathan Mceuen, a guitar and banjo playing performer whose music and stories captured the ears and hearts of a very enthusiastic audience.
Nathan is the son of Grammy award-winning musician John Mceuen of the infamous ͞Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.͟He grew up playing alongside a long list of talent including Willie Nelson, John Denver and Johnny Cash, but his love of music began in high school with inspiration and guidance from his high school band teacher, Rob Wilson.
He was joined on stage by Tom Rhodes on fiddle, Kevin Schramm on accordion, Varon James on guitar, and Erik Stucky playing the mandolin. The backup band had little time to rehearse before the show, but that certainly was not evident in their program which featured spontaneous musical interludes by each of them.Mceuen deftly conducted the band with well-placed nods and animated body cues to call up the solo performances and the improvisation only solidified the talents of the group.
The evening included a variety of toe-tapping tunes, many original, and some thrilling renditions of Elvis Presley’s ͞It’s now or never and Johnny Cash’s signature piece, “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Perhaps the most memorable moments in the show were Nathan’s dead-pan wit and storytelling between numbers. As a young performer with a long career ahead of him, his history and experiences are already a fascinating view into the world of music making.
A few years ago Nathan was approached by Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse, after a show Nathan had done in Pasadena. Russi was holding a banjo that belonged to her late husband Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse.
As she opened the case to show Nathan the custom made Deering banjo with Wayne’s initials and a Mickey Mouse head engraved on the headstock, she told Nathan how much Wayne loved to play and that she wanted his banjo to be played again. Russi then handed the banjo to Nathan and said that she wanted him to have it. His latest CD includes several songs in tribute to both Russi and Wayne.
He’s currently on a multi-city tour and plans on visiting Vail again sometime soon to bring our community another exciting evening of fine music. For more information visit: www.nathanmceuen.com
