Finally! 26 years in the making!
Jim Watson's "Christmas at the Cave" on CD!

Jim's 26th annual Christmas at the Cave show (December 22, 2011) was recorded by Jerry Brown of the Rubber Room and is now available from Jim at live shows or by mail.  Bonus: 2 videos of Chapel Hill's official Christmas kickoff are included on the CD. (MORE INFO | N&O review) Send a check for $17.50 to:

"For the past four years I have been writing and performing musicals for the Northwestern Illinois Theatre Coalition. These shows (BOSH AND MOONSHINE, THE BELLE OF THE WABASH, SARAH BERNHARDT IN TEXAS, and OKLAHOMA HALE & DAMNATION) follow a motley band of 19th century music hall entertainers as they wander through the Midwest. The troupe includes a saloon singer, a Shakespearean tragedian, a love-struck young couple, a gunslinger, and an undertaker. I have picked 17 of my favorites from these shows and put them on this cd. I hope you might like it!" ------ Mike

You Can’t Beat the Classics is a compact-disc (CD) collection of twenty-two distinctive settings of oldtime music classics and rarities from Appalachia and beyond. It is performed by three artists: Alan Jabbour on fiddle, Ken Perlman on clawhammer banjo, and Jim Watson on guitar and vocals. Classic tunes are inherently worthwhile musically, or they would not have become classics. Certain tunes also seemed worth revisiting because fresh versions might stir up renewed interest. "We hope that the musicality of our settings stirs fresh enthusiasm for these grand old classics. For good measure, we’ve also included a number of wonderful tunes never released before."

2012 IBMA AWARDS Joe Newberry's song "Singing As We Rise" won IBMA GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR!  This pic was taken at the ceremony on 9/27/12 by Chris Finan, and that's Joe on the left.  Song info: The Gibson Brothers with Ricky Skaggs (artists); Joe Newberry (songwriter); Eric Gibson, Mike Barber & Leigh Gibson (producers); Compass Records. Listen to Joe Newberry and Mike Compton's performance of the song thanks to our friends at YouTube.  And here's David Morris's interview with Joe on Bluegrass Today's website just before the awards show.

And another congratulations to JOE NEWBERRY! He was chosen as the Raleigh News & Observer's Tarheel of the week on 10/21/12.  "Tar Heel of the Week: State worker sees songwriting success"

And ANOTHER congratulations to JOE NEWBERRY!  Here's a fine article on Joe in the magazine Our State, April 2014: "Artist Spotlight: Joe Newberry."
 

The program starts with Lelly Mae Ledford (Pretty Polly).  Second on the program is Tommy Jarrell with Barry and Sharon Poss (Soldier's Joy, Drunken Hiccups).  The Red Clay Ramblers close the show with Hobo's Last Letter, Where the Twisted Laurel Grows The latter song was chosen to be the title of the new TV show and is an early example of a music video with scenes of the band mixed in with a story scenes set West Virginia.

Bill's friends at Bish Scrap Metal Co. in Siler City are going green in more ways than one this Christmas! 

The Cave—If you're lucky enough to squeeze underground and into The Cave tonight, you'll witness perhaps the state's most beloved and long-lasting musical institution as it continues to chart an unlikely chapter in our collective history. Young string band veterans Tommy Thompson, Jim Watson and Bill Hicks inaugurated their run as Red Clay Ramblers in 1972, adding Mike Craver a year later. The intervening 35 years have brought multiple lineup changes, multimedia experiments, solo albums, duo albums, three international tours sponsored by the State Department, several off-Broadway hits, the revival of one such hit for a new generation, performances at the 1st and 25th Eno festivals, two Carter family funerals, and the death of co-founder Thompson in 2003. Watson, Hicks and Craver roll on several times a year, their preservation of old-time tunes and their own material assisted now by Joe Newberry. —Grayson Currin

Hard Times and Chuckin' the Frizz CDs are here!

Rounder re-issued the Red Clay Ramblers HARD TIMES and CHUCKIN' THE FRIZZ albums as limited edition CDs as part of their Rounder Archive series this summer. 

CHUCKIN' THE FRIZZ, recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in 1979, is considered by many to be the original line-up's finest release.  We have a special page for the honors, accolades, reviews and souvenirs for Frizz.  Read it and get excited with us!

"Red Clay Ramblers, Chuckin' the Frizz -- Any true Ramblers fan knows that this all-too-rare release marks the band's finest hour on record, a well-produced live recording of the rollicking 1979 lineup performing at the old, tinier Cat's Cradle. This is a superior string band at the height of its powers, spinning out traditionals and originals with inspired, infectious fervor." [more]

...Durham Independent 2003

"This is a superbly produced set with a superior recorded sound, fully capturing the rich overtones in the blend of stringed instruments and piano. Craver has never sounded better, and neither has Tommy Thompson, whose voice and banjo playing are adept and gorgeous. His ballad "Hot Buttered Rum" is wonderful, and this moving performance is one of the Red Clay Ramblers' best recorded moments." [more]

...Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide.

Joe Newberryand his Two Hands make all the music on his new solo CD, recorded in a day and a half and with live takes (no overdubbing or effects), just like they used to do it.  We especially liked his original songs (highlighted by "I Know Whose Tears") and the Christmas Trilogy finale ("Christmas Eve, "On This Christmas Day," and "Breaking Up Christmas."  Click on the cover to be swept over to Joe's website to get your own copy straight from the source.

Dirty Linen, August/September 2005 reviewed by Duck Baker, London, England
One of the best of the many tributes to the Carters that have appeared over the years was recorded in l980 by three members of that unique and wonderful outfit known as the Red Clay Ramblers. It's interesting neither Jim Watson, Tommy Thompson, nor Mike Craver play very much on mandolin, banjo, or piano here, though Thompson does pick up the five-string at times. The main instrument is the guitar, which both Watson and Craver handle nicely in the appropriate Carter style. The main focus is on the vocals, and they are just gorgeous. The leads are heartfelt, the harmonies just right, and the blend reflects all the years these guys had worked together. A variety of approaches is used, and all reflect a deep understanding of and feeling for the music.

Can 25 years really have passed since this record was made? Has Tommy Thompson really, truly gone on, perhaps to sing his parts with Sara, Maybelle and A.P.? Well, we have to believe it, apparently, which makes the reissue of Meeting in the Air that much more welcome. When it first appeared, everyone agreed that this was a great record. Now it seems something more that that, a classic.