At 7:30 PM on Friday, May 10, The Flying Monkey is excited to bring back Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Crunchy Western Boys. Nitty Gritty players are known as profoundly influential to later roots and country rock, laying the foundation for everybody from The Eagles to Alabama to Uncle Tupelo. New Hampshire’s own Americana wizards, The Crunchy Western Boys, will open the night. Tickets for this concert start at $45.

Widely considered one of the best bands in New Hampshire and the region, the wildly popular Crunchy Western Boys return to Plymouth. New Hampshire Magazine put it best: “Sometimes the best music is the hardest to put a label on. New Hampshire’s Crunchy Western Boys defy labeling as they pick and strum their way through the DNA of American music in all its purest forms: folk, roots, bluegrass, a touch of gospel, all with an infectious rocking beat.”

On their own style: “I guess you could call it alt-bluegrass, but I know that’s kind of lame . . . we’re playing bluegrass, but we’re coming at it from a very rock ‘n’ roll angle.”

Whatever the case, expect to be tappin’ your toes and warming up for the main event . . . Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Picture this: Drummer Jimmy Fadden pulling double-duty throughout most of the night, playing harmonica while he keeps the rhythms chugging along. From behind his triple stack of keyboards, Bob Carpenter not only plays the melody lines and bass lines simultaneously (often on two different keyboards), but he also adds accordion-like touches on back-to-back Cajun two-steps. And of course, John McEuen serving as the multi-instrumental wizard who spices up nearly every song with some flashy playing on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and lap steel.

Expect them to trot out their biggest hits — from the sublime Mr. Bojangles and the playful country twang of Fishin’ in the Dark, to new material like The Resurrection and Tulsa Sounds Like Trouble to Me from their most recent release, Speed of Life.

Tickets to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert are $45, and $55 for premier seating. For more information on upcoming shows or to purchase tickets call the box office at 536-2551, or go online at FlyingMonkeyNH.com.