The area including Baltimore, Washington D.C. and surrounding region, Maryland and northern Virginia, is noted for a power-packed style of bluegrass music, notably in the 1940s and 1950s, although it is often the style of choice even today.
During that era there was an influx of Appalachian migrants who came looking for work. As a consequence Baltimore found itself populated by some extraordinary mountain musicians, members of the Dickens family were among them, and it was for a brief time the centre of the bluegrass music world.
This period and these musicians are the subject of a new book – Bluegrass in Baltimore – The Hard Drivin’ Sound and Its Legacy (publication date, May 31, 2015) – that relates the far-from-easy life that these musicians endured, only ameliorated by the music that they played and enjoyed. Even in that enjoyment they were looked down upon with prejudice by the locals, and bluegrass music was deemed the “poorest example of poor man’s music.”
Based upon interviews with legendary players from the so-called “Golden Age of Baltimore Bluegrass,” this book provides the first in-depth coverage of this transplanted-roots music and its broader influence, detailing the struggles Appalachian musicians faced in a big city.
Bluegrass in Baltimore was written by Tim Newby, the features editor at Honest Tune Magazine and an active participant in Baltimore’s thriving live music scene.
The publisher McFarland Books of Jefferson, North Carolina, has created a video to introduce the book……
Bluegrass in Baltimore details a history of a very important region in the development of bluegrass music.
Full details about the book aren’t yet available, but here is what is known ..
Price: $35.00
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-9439-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-1952-1
ca. 55 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Softcover (6 x 9) 2015
On January 28, 1984, soulful bluegrass singer and mandolin player Earl Taylor died.
Earl Taylor was born on June 17, 1929, in rural Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia. He was the leader of one of the more significant traditional bluegrass bands from the late 1950s through to the early 1980s. Despite the fact that his various versions of the Stoney Mountain Boys played some of the finest bluegrass music, sadly Taylor never got the credit that he deserved.
In the late 1930s, Taylor was attracted to the music of the Monroe Brothers and was inspired to learn to play the mandolin and guitar. At the age of 12 he added the harmonica to his instrument case.
In 1946 he relocated to Michigan where he played with the Mountaineers, working in Toledo and nearby Monroe.
After a few months he formed the Stoney Mountain Boys, but by the end of 1948, he was broke and disenchanted with the music business, so he disbanded the group and returned to Virginia.
Subsequently, he settled in Rockville, Maryland, where he worked for a drywall company and stayed away from music for the next three years.
He then became friendly with two 17 year olds, Charlie Waller (later of Country Gentlemen fame) and Sam ‘Porky’ Hutchins. wIn 1953 they moved to Baltimore adding fiddle player Louie Profitt to their entourage.
With some changes, they played their local area until 1955, when Taylor joined Jimmy Martin in Detroit. While with Martin he helped to record some classic sides for Decca, before returning to Maryland in 1957, where he formed a new version of the Stoney Mountain Boys and worked the club circuit in the Baltimore area.
In April 1959, Earl Taylor and Stoney Mountain Boys had the distinction of being the first bluegrass band to play on the Carnegie Hall stage. They were the hit of the evening. Taylor recalled, “When we would end a number, I knew that it would take five minutes before we could go into another one – that was how much rarin’ and screamin’ and hair-pullin’ there was.”
Soon afterwards, he relocated to Cincinnati playing various venues and doing television and radio work until 1965.
In 1963 he recorded an album Blue Grass Taylor-Made for Capitol Records with his new band, The Blue Grass Mountaineers.
During this time, he recorded two sides for Rebel Records and an album for United Artists (Folk Songs From the Bluegrass) as well.
In 1964 Taylor worked as a sideman, playing mandolin and harmonica, for the Stanley Brothers during four sessions for the King albums Hymns of the Cross (KLP 918) and The Remarkable Stanley Brothers Play and Sing Bluegrass Songs for You (KLP 924).
In June 1965 he re-joined Jimmy Martin, but his stay was brief as by August he had gone on to work for Flatt & Scruggs with whom he spent about 15 months touring and recording. He worked on four sessions, playing mandolin on cuts on that are included on the LPs When The Saints Go Marching In (CL-2513/CS 9313) and Strictly Instrumental (CL-2643/CS 9443).
He later returned to Cincinnati, re-organised the Stoney Mountain Boys and recorded an album with guitarist Jim McCall, released by Rural Rhythm.
In May and October 1967 he helped Ralph Stanley record material for his first King album Brand New Country Songs (KSD-1028).
Subsequently, he took the band to California where he worked for several months and recorded an album for Vetco (The Bluegrass Touch, released five years later, in 1974).
In the early 1970s, Taylor and McCall returned to play the Cincinnati and Columbus area and made further recordings for Rural Rhythm and Vetco.
However, in 1975 his own ill health and the tragic death of his young son saw him give up personal appearances for several months.
He resumed playing in the early 1980s, for some of the time with McIntyre, led by the banjo-playing son of Vernon ‘Boatwhistle’ McIntyre, also name Vernon, before declining health severely limited his playing and finally led to his death, from a heart attack, in 1984.
Tom Ewing worked with Taylor before going on to be a Blue Grass Boy …..
“Earl Taylor was the first professional bluegrass musician I ever played with and I will always be indebted to him for putting up with me. I’ve heard stories of his heavy-drinking days, but when I knew him in the 1970s, he was “on the wagon,” with a ready sense of humor and a remarkably laid back way of handling every situation.
He went to Florida without me, hoping to find full-time picking at Disneyland, and his oldest son Billy died down there in a swimming accident. Earl came back to Cincinnati and kept right on going somehow — I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to under those circumstances. But he couldn’t read or write, so, aside from his being a cool and wily trader, music was his primary way of making it. He had to keep on picking.”
This video features Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys’ Short Life of Trouble from the 1991 album Mountain Music Bluegrass Style on Smithsonian Folkways.
The Stoney Mountain Boys included Duke of Bluegrass Banjo, Walt Hensley, Sam Hutchins on guitar, and the great Vernon ‘Boatwhistle’ McIntyre on bass.
Discography:
Folk Songs from the Bluegrass (United Artists UAS-6049)
Bluegrass Taylor Made (Capitol T/ST-2090)
Bluegrass Favorites (Rural Rhythm RRET-188) with Jim McCall
Bluegrass Favorites, Vol. 2 (Rural Rhythm RRET-242) with Jim McCall
Bluegrass Favorites, Vol. 3 (Rural Rhythm RRET-243) with Jim McCall
Bluegrass Touch (Vetco LP 3017) (Reissued on Crosscut CR 1013)
Body And Soul (Vetco LP-3026) (Reissued on Crosscut CR 1020)
Bluegrass Favorites (Rural Rhythm RHY-CD 320 24), with Jim McCall.
This piece, which started as a series of questions for James Reams from Richard Thompson, is in its final form a contribution from Kim Crecca. We hope to include similar artist profiles in the coming months
Originally from southeastern Kentucky, James Reams arrived at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal in 1982, carrying two cardboard boxes and two pairs of work shoes—looking for a better life, having left behind a dead-end job in an agricultural supply store. At first, in his scramble to survive, he didn’t play much music. But when he did, those who heard his authentic Kentucky mountain sound encouraged him to play more.
Before long, Reams started producing albums beginning with his first release Kentucky Songbird in 1994, followed by The Blackest Crow and The Mysterious Redbirds in 2000. All three albums featured long-time friend Bill Christophersen and a collaboration with Tom Paley from the New Lost City Ramblers.
Reams formed the Barnstormers in 1993 because, as he puts it, “I like hard-core bluegrass that features innovation. This isn’t museum music, it’s a living, breathing creation. I wanted to sing and play with other musicians that felt as I did, that were as dedicated and committed to making music that moved people.”
The first James Reams & the Barmstormers album, Barnstormin’, featured Kenny Kosek on fiddle and was released in 2001 (and is now available as a free download from Noise Trade). This album includes Carl Hayano on bass, Mickey McGuire on banjo, and Mark Farrell on mandolin.
In 2005, James Reams & the Barnstormers cut loose with the CD Troubled Times which included a feature length documentary of the band entitled Rollin’ On and a preview of the DVD documentary Making History with Pioneers of Bluegrass that is coming out later this year. Sadly, this was the last CD for Hayano and McGuire due to health issues and scheduling conflicts.
Wrapping up an impressive anthology of music is the 2011 release of One Foot in the Honky Tonk which made two Top 10 CDs of 2011 lists and included a single that charted nationally. This CD features two new Barnstormers, Doug Nicholaisen on banjo and Nick Sullivan on upright bass. Reams, Farrell and Nicholaisen contributed all the original material for this album. This group continues to perform at festivals on the east coast.
Teaming up with renowned banjo player, the late Walter Hensley, resulted in the release of James Reams, Walter Hensley & the Barons of Bluegrass in 2002, an album that received an IBMA nomination for Recording Event of the Year; the same year that Reams received the IBMA nomination as Emerging Artist of the Year. Combining talents with Walter Hensley again in 2006 produced the album Wild Card that had reviewers singing Reams ‘ praise. “… another fine collaboration from James Reams and Walter Hensley. The result is an album full of spirited, traditional bluegrass music. James Reams’ solid rhythm guitar and strong vocals lend a solid foundation to Hensley’s clean and tasteful banjo picking…” said R. Steelman of Bluegrass Music Profiles.
Having recently relocated to the Phoenix area, Reams has put together a fine group of musicians out west including:
Billy Parker, who has played with mandolin masters like Bill Monroe and David Grisman. He has developed a confident and spirited approach to seamlessly move between the rapid-fire bluegrass tunes and more soulful roots music melodies.
Tyler Wells brings his youth and vitality to the band and is a hot banjo player having won numerous competitions including Rockygrass and Huck Finn and finishing as one of the top five finalists in the national banjo championship in 2010.
Ted Sistrunk has studied under some of the best bass players in the USA and brings his ear for melodic lines, intuitive bass stylings and a solid groove to the Barnstormers.
Once again Reams has teamed up with a well-known artist, this time it is Blaine Sprouse, the legendary bluegrass fiddler renowned for his work with Jim and Jess McReynolds as well as his years on the Grand Ole Opry. In 2014, Reams plans to release a CD featuring both west and east coast band members and is currently working on original material for that album. In the meantime, he’s touring coast-to-coast and putting together an EP of seldom heard Christmas songs for release this fall.
Coast-to-coast tour
In celebration of the 20th anniversary, James Reams & the Barnstormers are starting a coast-to-coast tour beginning in Yuma, Arizona, today. Reams will be visiting both the west coast and the east coast Barnstormers at venues such as:
January 26: Bluegrass in the Park, Yuma, Arizona
March 9: Redwood Bluegrass Associates, Mountainview, California
March 10: Sonoma County Bluegrass Festival, Sebastopol, California
April 6: Tempe Festival of the Arts, Tempe, Arizona
April 19-20: Durango Meltdown, Durango, Colorado
April 27-28: Bluegrass in Benson, Benson, Arizona
May 4: Hi-Country Bluegrass Festival, Cordes Junction, Arizona
June 7: Southwest Pickers, Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 8: Holly Bluegrass Festival, Holly, Colorado
June 22-23: Prescott Bluegrass Festival, Prescott, Arizona
August 17: Long Island Bluegrass Festival, Copaigue, New York
September 6-8: Pickin’ in the Panhandle, Hedgesville, West Virginia
September 13-15: Bluegrassin’ in the Foothills, Plymouth, California
September 28-29: Park Slope Bluegrass and Old Time Music Jamboree, Brooklyn, New York
In February, Reams will be at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, for a dedication honoring his long-time partner Tina Aridas’ contribution to the genre. Aridas passed away in February 2011 and was a significant factor in Reams’ music.
Highlights over 20 years
When asked why he got into bluegrass and stayed there, Reams enthusiastically replied, “What pulled me into this music was groups like the Stanley Brothers. There’s a sort of chill, goose bumps that affected me when I heard them play. A passion for this music was born in me. I’ve always felt that excitement whenever I perform.”
His career highlights over the past 20 years include:
The release of three albums on the Copper Creek record label. Tom Paley suggested that Reams shop around the recordings they had made together which resulted in Artie Rose recommending Gary Reid at Copper Creek Records. The day he received the recordings, Reid called and offered to put it out on their national record label. Reams was not only shocked but near to tears when he received the news. It was a dream-come-true for that little boy in Kentucky who used to sing at the kitchen table.
The IBMA nomination as Emerging Artist of the Year. Reams was sitting at the kitchen table when he got the news. The whole thing was so surreal. As a young man he had always dreamed of contributing to this genre of music. And now he was playing the music he loved with idols of his day like Tom Paley and Walter Hensley and being recognized by the industry. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
The IBMA nomination for Recording Event of the Year. When Reams received another phone call from IBMA letting him know that he was also being nominated for his album James Reams, Walter Hensley and the Barons of Bluegrass, it was almost too much to bear. When he told Walter the news, Walter asked, “Who are the other nominees?” When James replied, “The Chieftans and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.” Walt responded, “Well, we might as well forget that one!”
Being a featured performer at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – The Roots of American Music Festival was a big feather in their cap.
Performing on the TV show, Song of the Mountains with Mike Seeger and Paul Williams (from Jimmy Martin’s original band). The theatre was packed and even years later people still mention that they had seen the performance. Mike Seeger talked with Reams at length afterwards and told him that the band reminded him of his early days in bluegrass.
Being asked to perform on Merry Go-Round (the third longest running live music show on radio) was another big thrill. Just being at historic WPAQ where the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Grandpa Jones, and other pioneers played gave James a sense of his place in bluegrass history.
Many festivals have provided highlights over the years but one of the first was the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival where the band featured Walter Hensley. Reams remembers Del McCoury hanging around backstage with his sons in rapt attention as Hensley tore into the music.
The highlight of the Coast-to-Coast Celebration will be 2013 Bluegrass/Old-Time Music Jamboree, an annual music event that Reams has been organizing since 1998. This year he hopes to include a reunion with band members over the years and feature a screening of the DVD “Making History with Pioneers of Bluegrass” with perhaps a special guest or two from the movie making an appearance.
DVD release
Reams truly is an ambassador for bluegrass music. His passion for the genre itself and everyone who has been a part of bringing traditional music into the mainstream has culminated in the production the DVD documentary Making History with Pioneers of Bluegrass: Tales of the Early Days in Their Own Words. Everyone who truly loves bluegrass music should want to hear from not just the big names in the business but from the likes of Bill Yates, Art Stamper, Melvin Goins and Kenny Baker…words preserved now in this documentary, honouring their legacy. The film will be released in the middle of the year as part of Reams’ 20th anniversary celebration.
Plans for 2013 and beyond
So what’s next for James Reams? Well, he’s planning to release an EP of bluegrass/gospel Christmas songs in the fall 2013 and is currently working on an album of mostly original music for 2014 featuring both bands. Reams has worked hard to blend the traditional music that he grew up with and the bluegrass music of today in his original songs that appear on each of his albums.
Just listen to one of these well-crafted tunes and you can understand why Reams says, “You can’t learn passion. You can learn how to do scales and practice to a metronome. But to bring the music alive, you’ve got to feel it deep down in your bones. There’s no school for soul.”
This remembrance of legendary banjo player Walter Hensley, who passed away on Sunday (November 25) from cancer, is a contribution from James Reams. James was a friend and musical collaborator of Walter’s over the course of many years.
The first time I met Walter Hensley was on a smoky tour bus that was leaking diesel from a cracked fuel tank on a speedway track in New Hampshire where a bluegrass festival was being held. Hearing the news that Walter had passed from the daughter of Earl Taylor (of Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys), I was swamped by a flood of memories, memories that I wanted to share as a way of honoring his legacy in bluegrass music.
Born in Grundy, VA in 1936, Walter Hensley was one of the finest practitioners of Baltimore-style bluegrass and some say one of the greatest banjo pickers ever. Indeed, he was nicknamed the “Banjo Baron of Baltimore.” His driving banjo and inventive licks earned him the first solo banjo LP ever to be recorded on a major label, and has elevated his name to the status of cult legend among banjo players and aficionados of that high-wire style of banjo playing. His performance at Carnegie Hall, released as an LP by United Artists, changed the lives of a generation of banjo pickers. If there was a roster of influential and innovative banjo players, Walt would be on it, but sadly his name is still unfamiliar to many bluegrass musicians and fans. Bill Monroe biographer Richard D. Smith said that “Walter remains one of the terribly underrated greats of the 5-string.” He was a stylistic pioneer, but, as legendary folklorist Alan Lomax noted “There’s true folk magic in every note that Walt plays.”
The International Museum of Bluegrass Music has Walter listed as one of the pioneers of bluegrass. His career embraced a number of firsts. Did you know that Del McCoury bought his first banjo from Walt, and that Walter gave Don Reno his first plastic head for his banjo? He was in the first Bluegrass band to ever play Carnegie Hall as part of Earl Taylor and The Stoney Mountain Boys (Alan Lomax Presents Folksong Festival at Carnegie Hall). He appeared on the first recording (Stoney Mountain Twist) issued by a new fledgling bluegrass label – Rebel Records.
One of the more startling firsts, he recorded the first solo banjo album (5-String Banjo Today) for multinational Capital Records that hit just weeks before Capital released another promising album by a little known British band, The Beatles. And, in 2002 he received his first IBMA nomination for Album of the Year (James Reams, Walter Hensley and the Barons of Bluegrass).
Yes, Walter was the genuine article – a part of Bluegrass Royalty. He took me places where I never would have gone and I thank God that that I got on that bus out in New Hampshire, and had the courage to turn to Walter and ask him if he would consider recording with me. I was blessed to be able to make two albums with a true legend of bluegrass and to really get to know this terribly shy, humble but enormously talented artist. Bluegrass musicians everywhere have been affected by of his music whether they know it or not.
The whole bluegrass community should gather round to pay tribute as he leaves us behind to play in the greatest bluegrass band ever. I know he’ll be tearing up the place and they’ll be hollering for more!
James Reams, Walter Hensley & The Barons of Bluegrass are offering free downloads of three songs from their latest release, Wild Card, via Download.com.
These are the full tracks from the CD in an unrestricted MP3 format, ready for burning to a CD, or uploading to an iPod or MP3 player.
The songs available from Download.com are We’re The Kind Of People That Make The Jukebox Play, Working On A Building and Where No Heart Goes Hungry. You can listen online to each track before downloading.
Of course, they hope that you will enjoy theses free tracks so well that you will head right over to CDBaby or iTunes to purchase the complete Wild Card project.
Wild Card is the new album by James Reams, Walter Hensley & The Barons Of Bluegrass. The band includes longtime bluegrass sidemen Jon Glik, Mark Farrell and Carl Hayano, and includes some traditional material, a few originals, and couple of tunes drawn from unexpected places. It was recorded in one weekend with all members of the band present so as to preserve the raw excitement of playing together.
Wild Card is available from County Sales (540-745-2001 or sales@countysales.com) and at CDBaby (includes audio samples). You can also order from Mountain Redbird Music (info@jamesreams.com or 718-965-8490).
