WINTHROP – The Winthrop Performing Arts Center will host “An Evening with John McEuen” at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17.

McEuen is a founding member of the The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a Grammy Award and Country Music Association Award winner.

McEuen, a respected multi-instrumentalist and producer, has performed more than 5,000 concerts throughout the world.

He is known to a wide spectrum of music fans from working with a diverse group of people throughout his career. For example, he has performed or recorded with Dolly Parton, The Doors, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Little Richard, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Clint Eastwood and Phish.

When he was searching for a path to showbiz in 1965, McEuen booked Bob Dylan for a show that sold out at a high school in Southern California. By 1970, he convinced his brother to also manage high school buddy, comedian Steve Martin.

With the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, he has made over 30 albums, including the platinum-selling “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” which Rolling Stone called “one of the most important recordings ever come out of Nashville.”

The band began in 1966 when “a bunch of guys playing together at McCabe’s Guitar Shop” in Long Beach, Calif., where McEuen was teaching banjo, formed The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They play everything from folk to rock to country. He still tours with the Dirt Band today. He also hosts “John McEuen’s Acoustic Traveller Show” on XM Satellite Radio

McEuen’s Winthrop performance is his only scheduled performance in Maine. For more information about McEuen, people can visit www.johnmceuen.com.

The Winthrop Performing Arts Center is in Winthrop High School, off Route 133 and 41. The show is sponsored by Winthrop High School and the Winthrop Education Corp.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. They are available at KeyBank in Winthrop, Apple Valley Books in Winthrop, Winthrop High School and The Theater At Monmouth; or call 933-9999.