Concert preview: Prodigal son Nathan McEuen returns to Utah to make his mark

During the May 20 finale of the latest "American Idol" season, most Utah viewers paid careful attention to the performance of local girl Megan Joy.

What most of us didn't know is that accompanying Joy during her performance was another Utah native, Nathan McEuen, who played guitar alongside the banjo-picking actor/comic Steve Martin.

McEuen, 29, a 1998 grad of Murray High -- David Archuleta's alma mater -- performs Friday in Midvale with his band. And although Martin, Joy and McEuen's famous father won't perform, it still should be a folk-rock performance worth seeing.

But first things first. About that "Idol" performance: How did that happen?

McEuen's father, John, is a founding member of the Nitty

Gritty Dirt Band and produced Martin's first album, this year's "The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo." During the production, John suggested that his son send Martin a letter and demo of a banjo tune and other songs he had written. Nathan followed through, but didn't tell his father he had.

To Nathan's surprise, Martin wrote him back and complimented him on the songs.

Several months later, once Martin's album was released, the comedian was invited to perform during the "American Idol" finale, and he asked John if he knew any good guitar players who could accompany him.

John didn't want to hire Nathan because of the appearance of nepotism, but he brought up the subject with his son. Nathan told his father

that Martin had complimented him in the recent letter. "He said Steve never compliments anyone, and he'd known him for a long time," Nathan recalled.

Nathan was hired and appeared on the massively popular show to an audience of millions. (Joy didn't know she was performing with a fellow Utahn, the singer said this week in a phone call.)

At first blush, in a phone interview Nathan McEuen seems modest and unimpressed by the limelight after growing up in the music business. His father spent years touring with country luminaries, including Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson -- all of whom met and gladhanded Nathan backstage at his father's shows.

Growing up as a son of a famous musician can be hard, said bandmate Chuck Hailes, a 1993 Murray High grad who now plays acoustic bass with Nathan McEuen. "People expect a lot more from him, so he's been working really hard," Hailes said.

In addition to touring between 150 and 250 shows annually for the past few years, McEuen, now based in Ventura, Calif., released his first album, "Grand Design," in 2005, and then "Festival" in 2007 -- both on his own label, Lint Records. He plans on releasing his next album in December, and then another one in mid-2010. The music is impressive: a blend of traditional bluegrass and progressive folk-rock that's complemented nicely with McEuen's pleasant, soulful baritone.

He will turn 30 in March and is ready to take advantage of recent notoriety. "I'm excited to get out of my 20s," he said. "Now people are starting to pay attention. I feel better than I did when I was 21."

It took the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band three years to write and record its first album, John McEuen said, so he is impressed at his son's prolific nature. "He's doing everything I wish I could do," the proud father said. "I hope Salt Lake City wakes up to it."