Still Ramblin’

The Original Red Clay Ramblers Play Mountain Home Music Sunday

Story by David Brewer

The Original Red Clay Ramblers and Joe Newberry will return to the stage at the Blowing Rock School Auditorium as part of the Mountain Home Music series this Sunday, May 31. Photo by Daniel Coston

When their informal weekly jams at local banjo player Tommy Thompson’s house outside Chapel Hill turned into small local performances, Jim Watson and Bill Hicks couldn’t have known that old-time and folk music would literally take them around the world.

From extensive tours throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and Africa, frequent spots on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, roles as actors and musicians in a pair of Off-Broadway shows and nine albums, the Red Clay Ramblers became synonymous around the world with American roots music during the tenure of Watson, Hicks and longtime member Mike Craver.

This Sunday, May 31, the three longtime members of the original Red Clay Ramblers, along with recent addition Joe Newberry, will return to Blowing Rock for a performance as part of Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music series at the Blowing Rock School auditorium. The show will start at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets are $12.50 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets for college and high school students are $10 (at the door only). Purchase tickets at Mast Stores, Rydell Music Center, Pandora’s Mailbox in Blowing Rock, Fred’s Mercantile on Beech Mountain and Blue Moon Guitars in West Jefferson and online at www.mountainhomemusic.com.

“It’s a great space and it’s really cool what Joe’s done with that series,” said Newberry. “Even if people don’t know who’s playing, people will give us a chance. We kind of rocked the Kasbah last year. We had fun!”

The late 1960s and early 1970s in Chapel Hill and the Triangle region was a fertile time for string band music and the Red Clay Ramblers were at the heart of the scene. Along with bands like the New Deal String Band and other hot pickers, Watson, Hicks, Craver and Thompson began hitting small local venues such as the Pickwick, the original Cat’s Cradle and He’s Not Here.

“We played some little gigs in Chapel Hill. All of a sudden with some luck in being in the right place, we found ourselves being full-time musicians,” said Watson.

Word began to spread about the Ramblers and the group began making trips to perform at festivals and fiddlers’ conventions outside North Carolina. In 1974, the band made its first of many connections with theater, teaming up with the Southern States Fidelity Choir and Grease choreographer Pat Birch to present Diamond Studs. The play took the Ramblers to New York City the following year for an eight-month run.

In 1976, the Red Clay Ramblers were the very first band to take the stage at legendary Johnson City music venue The Down Home. Since reforming as the Original Red Clay Ramblers, the band has returned to the hallowed roots music spot to perform. Photo by Jim Beck

“Happenstance and luck that put us into that situation. What it actually did for us for a band was get us out of our day jobs,” said Watson. “We made a little bit of money and it got us started on playing music for a living.”

The original Red Clay Ramblers have been called everything from "America's premier whatzit band" (Audio Magazine) to the "the quintessential roots group" (Green Man Review). Over the years, the Ramblers toured with such musicians as Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Lillie Mae Ledford, Ireland’s Boys of the Lough, and even recorded with country songwriter iconoclast Eugene Chadbourne.

According to one journalist, the Ramblers "set the standard for acoustic fusion, melding bluegrass and old-time with jazz and rock long before anyone else had thought of it." Music Hound Country described them simply as "one of the most versatile bands in the business".

Although Watson, Hicks and Craver haven’t toured as part of the Red Clay Ramblers since the mid-1980s (the band is still performing and touring), their friendship and love of the music brought the group back together in 2001 following founding member Tommy Thompson’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s in the late 1990s.

A native of the Ozarks and a huge fan of the Ramblers, Newberry had been living in North Carolina for several years and went to see Thompson from time to time during his illness. The pair visited and played music until the banjo legend passed away in 2003.

When Watson, Hicks and Craver were invited to play the Carter Family Fold that same year, the group asked Newberry to play banjo with the group. He jumped at the chance.

“They like playing with a banjo player. That’s the sound they’re used to,” said Newberry. “I’m lucky enough that they asked me. They’re very kind to bring me along on these things. These are real heroes for me—a little hillbilly’s dream come true!”

In recent years, the original Red Clay Ramblers have continued to play a handful of shows each year, performing songs from their vast back catalog, as well as tunes from each member’s solo projects. With dozens of releases between the four members, there are plenty of tunes to choose from.

“I don’t know that we had any expectations one way or the other,” said Hicks of the band’s reunion. “We started doing stuff for fun and just keep doing it for fun. We’ve always enjoyed playing together and Joe’s been a terrific addition to the outfit. I think we’re just riding along and having a good time.”

Mountain Home Music 2009 Schedule of Events

For local roots music loves, Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music series has long been known as one the best places to see and hear quality live music throughout the summer and into the fall, and 2009 appears to be no exception. All Mountain Home Music shows will take place at Blowing Rock School auditorium except where noted. For more information, click to www.mountainhomemusic.com.

5/31 Mike Craver, Bill Hicks, Jim Watson and Joe Newberry
6/6 Amantha Mill/The Forget-Me-Nots
6/13 Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth
6/20 Hall of Fame Hoedown
6/27 Strictly Clean & Decent/The Harris Brothers
7/4 Bluegrass and Brass
7/18 The Dixie Dawn Band
7/26 Little Windows*
8/8 Keepers of the Flame
9/6 Salute to Those Who Labor**
* Taking place at Holy Cross Church in Valle Crucis
** Location TBA

Want To Go?

Date: Sunday, May 31
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Blowing Rock School auditorium
Cost: $12.50 in advance for adults/$15 at the door/$10 for students at the door