The Tarbox Ramblers are a Boston-based roots and Americana band. The band's sound originally centered on arrangements of early twentieth-century blues, gospel and Appalachian music. It later included bandleader Michael Tarbox's original songs. The group's albums on the Rounder label include a self-titled debut and a second release, A Fix Back East. The albums feature three-part vocal harmonies, a heavy rhythm section and the interplay of slide guitar and violin. The original line-up with Robbie Phillips (washtub bass), J. Place (harmonica),

Mickey Bones Mickey Bones is an American drummer and singer-songwriter. He has played with the Tarbox Ramblers, Bo Diddley, Morphine, The Breeders, Queen Ida, Michael Hurley, Catie Curtis, Bob Franke, Jimmy Ryan, Rick Danko, Bryan Lee, Van "Piano Man" Wa ...

(

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, washboard and bones) and Michael Tarbox was formed in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, in 1994. The mid period group consisted of Tarbox (vocalist and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

), Daniel Kellar (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist), Johnny Sciascia (

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

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 Jon Cohan (drummer and percussionist). Since 2003 Nashville based musician, Scott McEwen plays (

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

) with the Ramblers. Rob Hulsman (drums, Nine Pound Hammer) joined in 2003 and toured and recorded with the band through 2005.

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 ...

released The Tarbox Ramblers' eponymous debut album in 2000. In summer 2001,

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

contacted the group, to secure them as his opening act for his

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

appearance, and subsequently asked them to continue touring with him. They made the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's list of top CDs in 2002. Tristram Lozaw, a reviewer from the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'', described the group as follows: :"If the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

had happened 10 years earlier, hailed from

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

and been produced by

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

, they might have sounded like The Tarbox Ramblers. The way the Ramblers lay down their backroads grit and raw hillbilly-rock jive, you're unlikely to hear a more genuine blast of sandpaper rhythm and roots."

Equipment

Michael Tarbox plays a Supro Lockola solid-body electric guitar in G Tuning (DGDGBD); an

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

Town and Country solid-body electric in D (DADF#AD); and an

Epiphone Epiphone () is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in İzmir, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over ...

acoustic or

Gibson Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to: Business * Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer * Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Greetings, ...

L-4CES hollow-body electric guitar in Standard Tuning (EADGBE). He uses Fender Deluxe and Supro amps in combination with a Premier

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

tank.

Discography

*''Tarbox Ramblers'', Rounder Records, 2000 *''A Fix Back East'', Rounder Records, 2004 *''Four From The West'' (limited edition live set) 2006 *''First Songs/Gospel Cross'' (limited edition early recordings) 2010 *''Songs For Robert Reuter'' (Live EP, recorded in December 2021) 2022

Michael Tarbox's Solo work

Tarbox has worked as a

solo artist In music, a solo () is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an accompanying instrument such as a piano or organ, a continuo group (in Baroque music) ...

throughout his career, often favoring a drum-guitar duo format. In 2010 he released his first

solo 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 century ...

, ''My Primitive Joy''. Produced by Scott McEwen at The Fry Pharmacy Studio in Old Hickory, TN, its spare arrangements, acoustic sound and lyrical approach stand in contrast to The Tarbox Ramblers' aggressive amplified sound. A second solo album was slated for release in 2012. Tarbox's songs have been used in the television shows ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American Action film, action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX (TV channel), FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-k ...

'' and ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. They include "Ashes To Ashes," "Already Gone," "Were You There?" and "No Harm Blues."

Solo Discography

* ''First Songs/Gospel Cross'' (limited edition early recordings), 2010 * ''My Primitive Joy'', 2010 * ''Works And Days'', 2013 * ''Paler Suns'' (cover song collection), 2020 * ''Two New Songs: Hey Mr. Starlight & Change My Ways'', 2021 * Tarbox Ramblers, ''Songs For Robert Reuter'', 2022 * ''Kingdom Come Blues'' (acoustic solo recording), 2022 * ''Careless Love'' (solo electric, 3 songs, recorded live with audience), 2023 * ''Hail Charlie Parker'' (single), 2023

References

External links

Biography and reviews

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

, ''The Washington Post'', April 21, 2000
Band site

Recording Studio
{{Authority control Rock music groups from Massachusetts American blues musical groups American folk musical groups