19. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Founded in 1966, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fit in perfectly with the folk-rock movement that was happening in California at that time. Mainly a jug band at the beginning, they used that novelty to do various things: appearing in the film “Paint Your Wagon” and doing concerts with acts like Jack Benny, Bill Cosby and The Doors. Switching to more of a traditional country sound in 1970, they got a top ten song on the mainstream Hot 100 chart. Still not integrated into the Nashville system, they decided to collect some country music legends to record with them on their next album. Even though 1972’s “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” would be nominated for Grammy awards and come to be considered one of the most important albums in the history of country music, it would still be eleven more years until Nitty Gritty Dirt Band would begin getting hits on country radio. Once their hits began, it was a good stretch of top tens that lasted for almost a decade. The band is thought to be big instrumental figures in the progression of contemporary country music. They are still recording and touring to this day, and would be very deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction came knocking on their door.