New generation of McEuen is on his way to the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival

Nathan McEuen is carrying on not one but two family traditions.

His father, John McEuen, is a legendary folk-country banjo player, most notably with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

But his uncle, William E. McEuen, was an album producer (for Steve Martin and Nitty Gritty) turned movie producer (“The Jerk,” “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”).

While we’ll get to the way the 44-year-old brings both those family businesses together, he’s featured as a first-time act this week at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield.

“I’ve heard about Winfield my whole life, growing up on the road,” McEuen said from his home in California. “I’ve heard about the festival, the flatpicking championship of the country and all, and I’ve known several artists who’ve talked about Winfield, and I’m just excited to check it out finally.”

McEuen had been courted for years by Wichita radio personality Orin Friesen to play at the Walnut Valley festival, where his father performed in 2017.

While he said there aren’t many differences between the way he and his father play the banjo – John uses metal picks while Nathan handpicks and has a more classical style – Nathan said he was hesitant to be on stage, despite 30 years of playing.

“I grew up on the sides of many stages watching an Earl Scruggs or a Bela Fleck or a Tony Trischka, a lot of the banjo greats and watching my father,” McEuen said. “I was hesitant to play the banjo because I didn’t want the comparison. It was kind of his thing.”

The two have never played together on stage, McEuen said, although he played a 30-minute concert at his father’s request in the senior McEuen’s Nashville office earlier this year.

“We have a lot of respect for each other,” McEuen said. “A lot of what I play is original music, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it — and audiences seem to enjoy it too.”

What links the banjo and filmmaking, McEuen said, is a friendship he made decades ago.

He befriended voice artist Russi Taylor, best known as the voice of Minnie Mouse in Walt Disney cartoons from 1986 until her death in 2019.

Taylor was married to Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years.

“First and foremost in their heart was music,” McEuen said. Allwine was a sound engineer and a musician who got his start on the banjo before turning to voice acting.

For her husband’s 60th birthday, she had a custom-made Mickey Mouse banjo, with Allwine’s initials at the top.

McEuen played for Allwine’s funeral after his death in 2009.

“Russi took me in and basically adopted me like her own kid,” he said. “After four years of getting to know her, she walked up to me after one of my shows and handed me this custom-made banjo she had made for Wayne. So, I literally have the only custom-made Mickey Mouse banjo that was made for the voice of Mickey Mouse and endorsed by the company.

“When Russi gave me that banjo, I thought ‘I can’t not play that,’” McEuen added. “It opened a door into this realm past this bubble-like existence and down this path where I actually have my own thing going on.”

McEuen takes the banjo with him on the road and will have it with him in Winfield.

It is also the subject of a documentary that McEuen is in the midst of making, combining the banjo and movies.

“With a father that played banjo and an uncle that made movies, I find it perfect for my life that I’m now making a movie about a banjo,” he said. “It’s about all these layers of a true love story — these voice artists who fall in love and followed Walt’s dream of two mice falling in love.”

Nathan McEuen has recorded seven albums, and although he’ll be selling three of them at his merch table at Walnut Valley, the rest have been struck of any online presence since 2017. McEuen suspects an algorithm in an online system mistook him for his brother Jonathan – a blues-country guitarist – and deleted Nathan’s music.

His newest album does feature songs McEuen wrote with guitarist Mason Williams, best known for “Classical Gas.”

“Mason has been a wonderful friend to me and a great songwriting partner and mentor,” McEuen said.

McEuen’s first-timer status is just what the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival is looking for, said Larry Junker, editor of the Walnut Valley Voice, the festival’s daily publication.

In its 52nd year, Junker said, the festival lineup on four stages tries to balance out first-time acts, performers who have been away from Winfield for a few years, and what he called “old stalwarts” like John McCutcheon, Beppe Gambetta, Special Consensus, Roz Brown and Barry Patton.

This year’s festival continues to be family-focused, he said, including Feisty’s Music Camp for Kids, open for kindergarteners through sixth grade; and Andy May’s acoustic kids jam session and performance.

Part of the appeal for grownups, Junker said, is the chance to see fellow bluegrass fans again either in the stands or the camping area.

“It’s a family affair. The family is really the Walnut Valley Festival family,” he said. “They have really come together year after year and they camp together, and this is the only time they see each other. It’s truly a family reunion.”

WALNUT VALLEY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

When: Sept. 18-22

Where: Winfield Fairgrounds

Tickets: Varying cost, from wvfest.com