Radio Ramblers safe at home

This post is a contribution from popular bluegrass artist and radio man, Joe Mullins. He and The Radio Ramblers are celebrating 10 years together with their very first tour of England and Switzerland this week. Joe has has been sending photos and stories while they were away, and this is the final one as they are now safe and sound back in the US.

The last day overseas was an adventure for The Radio Ramblers. A good one! We had another gig scheduled that was canceled a few weeks ago. So I called Bernie Ross, and old acquaintance of mine near London who is a banjo NUT. I asked him if we could find some pickin’ in London and Bernie showed us the town.

For over 20 years London’s Monday night bluegrass jam session has happened each week. Hemmingford Arms is a cool pub in south London with Thai food and plenty of atmosphere. The upstairs was bluegrass central last night with a great mix of good pickers. What a fun night to find folks young and old digging into classics like Pike County Breakdown and equally proficient on modern Jerry Douglas tunes. I was so thankful they let the Ramblers join in. The whole crew joined in on Katy Daley! Got a little video footage of the fun.

 

As requests came for a few of our tunes we did a little mini concert until the manager said the neighbors would soon be calling Scotland Yard! It was a fun, relaxing end to a busy trip for the band.

It was a great blessing to enjoy bluegrass fans and musicians in Great Britain and Switzerland. I am grateful we met broadcasters who include us on air internationally. We were very pleasantly surprised to get many requests at each show and even the jam session for our song The Last Parade. I think of the song as very American but the message and the music are universal. We’re grateful for the multitude of new friends we now have in Europe. They all received an open invitation to visit JMRR in the US and we hope to return soon.

Thanks Bluegrass Today for letting us share a great excursion with everyone. More pictures and fun stuff from the trip is found at the Radio Ramblers Facebook page.