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-eque 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 number one single, “Long Hard Road”—"Night After Night” finds Hanna joined by bandmates Jimmie Fadden (drums), Bob Carpenter (harmony vocals, Hammond organ), Jaime Hanna (electric guitar, harmony vocals), and Ross Holmes (mandolin) plus guest musicians Viktor Krauss on acoustic bass and Tic-Tac bass and Douglas on lap steel guitar. “Night after night, I’m so blue / Can’t even dream my dreams of you,” sings Hanna with his signature, ever-cool delivery while the freight train groove of the band never lets up. “It’s right in our wheelhouse, and it’s pretty easy to tell what a blast we had playing and singing it,” Hanna exclaims. Due out on October 24, 2025, 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.
