Here's 22 tracks of hard-hitting transitional old-time tunes and songs inspired by the sounds that used to be heard at fiddlers conventions around the Southeast. It's a pile of well-rendered fiddle tunes with rock-solid backup.
The Rocky Creek Ramblers conjure up a delicious throwback sound—earthy fiddle, percolating three-finger banjo, spanking mandolin chops, and tasty guitar and bass runs. Cutting his teeth in the scene around Galax, Va, Ken Landreth delivers a three-finger banjo style that weaves perfectly around Joseph's fiddle. The Jims (Nelson and Collier) lay a fine foundation on guitar and mandolin. Joe Dejarnette's bass rounds it all out for a thick, driving string band sound.
The album includes familiar and tantalizingly unfamiliar tunes drawn from some of our favorite fiddlers (listed in a pdf of liner notes)—folks like Otis Burris, Bob Douglas, Tommy Magness, Leslie Keith, Red Wilson, and Roy Wooliver. A couple of songs and banjo/ fiddle duets add some texture and allow everyone to catch their breath.
Recorded at Studio 808a in Floyd, VA, after a few days playing and sweating at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention in 2016 and in a final session in 2019, this album captures the drive and spontaneity of a hot jam session at a summer fiddlers convention. It's a dancer's delight.
Released February 5, 2021
The Rocky Creek Ramblers are:
Ken Landreth - banjo
Jim Nelson - guitar and vocals
Jim Collier - mandolin and vocals
Joseph Decosimo - fiddle and vocals
Joe Dejarnette - bass
Recorded, mixed and mastered @Studio808a by Joe Dejarnette
Track list:
1 Sally Ann 2:15
2 Red Apple Rag 2:25
3 Echoes Of The Ozarks 2:55
4 Jonesboro 3:09
5 June Apple 3:35
6 Cockleburr 2:42
7 Bob Wills Stomp 2:33
8 Sail Away Ladies 2:38
9 C Waltz 2:03
10 Cumberland Gap 2:24
11 New Five Cents 2:37
12 Bill Cheatum 1:52
13 Handsome Molly 3:31
14 Mississippi Sawyer 3:00
15 Bryson Higgins' Tune 3:09
16 Black Mountain Blues 2:51
17 Ebenezer 2:24
18 Bound To Ride 2:29
19 Paddy On The Turnpike 2:07
20 Blaine Smith's Piece 3:05
21 Raven's Gap 2:36
22 R. Wooliver's Money Musk 2:01
