The Red Clay Ramblers are a

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

–based band founded in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, performing continuously since their formation in 1972. The current touring band has been together since 1987, with Jack Herrick (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, bass),

Bland Simpson Bland Simpson is an American author, professor, and musician from North Carolina. Early life Simpson grew up in the northeastern area of North Carolina in Elizabeth City and spent much of his time around the Albemarle Sound. He completed his u ...

(

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

), Clay Buckner (

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

), and Chris Frank (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

). The original members included Mike Craver (

) Tommy Thompson (

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

), Bill Hicks (

), and Jim Watson (

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, bass).

Career

Mike Craver joined Red Clay Ramblers in 1973, and recorded with them on their first record, which was released by Folkways under the title ''The Red Clay Ramblers with Fiddlin' Al McCanless.'' The quartet continued their recording career with ''Stolen Love'' on the

Flying Fish The Exocoetidae are a family (biology), family of Saltwater fish, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the order (biology), order Beloniformes, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven genus, ge ...

label, recorded in 1974 and released in 1975 during their successful run in "Diamond Studs." Jack Herrick joined the band in 1976 as a bass and trumpet player. The band recorded, concertized and performed in theatrical productions, most notably ''Diamond Studs'' (Bland Simpson/Jim Wann) off-Broadway in 1975. Their 1977 recording, ''Merchants Lunch'', described a

trucker A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

's disastrous visit to a

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

. (The diner still exists at the same location, but has been renamed the "Merchant's Restaurant"). The recordings produced by the Red Clay Ramblers during their first decade include ''Stolen Love,'' ''Twisted Laurel,'' ''Merchants Lunch,'' ''Meeting in the Air,'' ''Chuckin' the Frizz,'' and ''Hard Times,'' all on the Flying Fish label, and all available as CDs through

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

. The first decade of the Ramblers also produced album-collaborations with other musicians, including

Debby McClatchy Debbie (or Debby or Deb) is a feminine given name, commonly but not always short for Deborah (or Debra and related variants). Debbie is a name of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew name Deborah, which means “bee”. Notable people *Debbie ...

in 1976 and

Si Kahn Si Kahn (born April 23, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, and activist; he is the founder and former executive director of Grassroots Leadership. Biography Early life and education Kahn grew up in State College, Pennsylvania. When he was ...

in 1981. ''Chuckin' the Frizz'' is noteworthy as a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

. ''Meeting'' is an album of all Carter Family songs featuring the singing of Tommy Thompson, Mike Craver, and Jim Watson. These early albums featured several writing collaborations by Mike Craver and Tommy Thompson, the most "famous" of which are "Merchants Lunch" and "The Ace." Debby McClatchy recorded Hicks' most infamous original composition, "You Were Only F**king, While I Was Making Love." Fiddler Clay Buckner joined the band when fiddler Bill Hicks left the band in 1981. The Red Clay Ramblers continued to perform steadily, including an Off-Broadway production of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

's ''Lie of the Mind'' in 1985–86. Following that production the personnel of the group changed, with

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

and

replacing Watson and Craver. Colvin left the band August 1987, replaced by Chris Frank on guitar-accordion-tuba. The lineup of Thompson, Herrick, Buckner, Simpson and Frank toured internationally from 1987 through 1993, including scoring two Sam Shepard movies (''Far North'', 1988 and ''Silent Tongue'', 1994). They acted in ''Silent Tongue'', appearing as an 1870s medicine show band, where they met clowns

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. ...

and David Shiner and spawned the seeds of what became '' Fool Moon'', which they first performed on Broadway between February and September 1993. ''Fool Moon'' returned to Broadway twice more (1995, 1998) and won a Special Tony Award in June, 1999. Cartoonist

Doug Marlette Douglas Nigel Marlette (December 6, 1949 – July 10, 2007) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist who, at the time of his death, had also published two novels and was "finding his voice in writing long-length fiction."

collaborated with Bland Simpson and Jack Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers on a musical comedy adaptation of his Kudzu (comic strip), as "Kudzu, A Southern Musical," produced in North Carolina and Washington, D.C., in 1998. The Ramblers issued a CD of songs from the show, with cover art by Marlette. Founder Tommy Thompson, who retired from the band at the end of 1993, suffering from Alzheimers, died on January 24, 2003. The band continues to perform and record as a quartet, with banjoist Rick Good of Dayton, Ohio, and drummer Rob Ladd, including composed works for the

Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia. History Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander as ...

(2003) and the

Carolina Ballet Carolina Ballet is one of America's arts organizations, programming traditional ballets and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Rober ...

(2005), and the musical Lone Star Love, which played off-Broadway in 2004–2005, and had a failed pre-Broadway tryout in Seattle in 2007.Love Gone Wrong: Lone Star Love Cancels Broadway Engagement
/ref>

Partial discography

* ''The Red Clay Ramblers with Fiddlin' Al McCanless'' (1974) * ''Stolen Love'' (1975) * ''Twisted Laurel'' (1976) * ''Debby McClatchy with the Red Clay Ramblers'' ( Innisfree/Green Linnet, 1976) * ''Merchants Lunch'' (1977) * ''Chuckin' the Frizz'' (1979) * ''Hard Times'' (1981) * ''It Ain't Right'' (1986) * ''The Music of Sam Shepard's 'A Lie of a Mind (1986) * ''Sam Shepard's 'Far North (1989) * ''Rambler'' ( Sugar Hill, 1992) * ''Yonder'' (2002) * ''Kudzu'' (2003) * ''Rambleshoe'' (2005) * ''Lone Star Love'' (2006) * ''Fool Moon'' * ''The Music'' (2007) * ''Old North State'' (2009)

References

External links

Inventory of the Red Clay Ramblers Papers, 1970s-1990s
in the

Southern Historical Collection The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...

UNC-Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...

The Red Clay Ramblers official website

The Red Clay Ramblers First 10 Years
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1972 Old-time bands American folk musical groups Country music groups from North Carolina American fiddlers Old-time fiddlers Culture of Durham, North Carolina Green Linnet Records artists