James Calvin Reams [1] (born January 10, 1956) [2] is an American guitarist and member of the musical group James Reams & The Barnstormers. He has performed for over 20 years and is widely known as an "Ambassador of Bluegrass" for his dedication to bluegrass and oldtime music. [3] [4]
Originally from Kentucky and moved to Brooklyn, he continued to perform and record blue grass and old time music and created a festival in New York City, a one of a kind event that offers workshops and performances in bluegrass and old time music. During his music career, he has earned nicknames because of his efforts, Reams has been called the "Father of Brooklyn Bluegrass" and "Kentucky Songbird". Being from Kentucky, he was surrounded by music enthusiasts and musicians that have influenced his music. [5] He currently resides in Litchfield Park, Arizona. [6]
In 1998, James Reams organized the Park Slope Bluegrass Oldtime Music Jamboree, an annual festival in Brooklyn, New York, at the Brooklyn Society of Ethical Culture Meeting House. [7]
The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley and Ralph Stanley. Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, from 1946 to 1966. Ralph kept the band name when he continued as a solo artist after Carter's death, from 1967 until his own death in 2016. Thomas Goldsmith: This article continues to state that “many years later,” Ralph started playing again after Carter’s death. This is not just wrong, but absurdly wrong. As seen in many accounts of Ralph’s career, he essentially never stopped performing after Carter’s death. He played some remaining Stanley Brothers dates, then moved forward with the Clinch Mountain Boys, performing until not long before his own death.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which along with the simple banjo–fiddle duet have historically been the most common configurations to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2003. In June 2010, he received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2011 he was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Randall Franks is an American entertainer known for his work as a film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician. He plays various instruments including the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. Franks has received multiple nominations and awards throughout his career, including nominations for Inspirational Vocalist and Musician of the Year at the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House 2023 and 2024. He won Musician of the Year - Fiddle in 2024. He has been inducted into several halls of fame, such as the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2022), America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame (2019), and the Independent Country Music Hall of Fame (2013). The International Bluegrass Music Museum & Hall of Fame recognized Franks as a Bluegrass Legend in 2010. He has also received accolades from various regional organizations, including the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame Induction, Carolinas Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame Legend Award, Catoosa County, Georgia, which designated him as the "Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle" in 2004, and was inducted into the Chamber Business Person Hall of Fame In 2020, Franks was selected as the inaugural recipient of the AirPlay Direct Evolution Grant.
Richard K. "Dick" Spottswood is an American musicologist and author from Maryland, United States who has catalogued and been responsible for the reissue of many thousands of recordings of vernacular music in the United States.
Alice Gerrard is an American bluegrass and old-time music performer, writer, editor and teacher. As a singer who plays guitar, fiddle and banjo, she performed and recorded solo and in ensembles, notably in a duo with Hazel Dickens, in the Strange Creek Singers, and as the Back Creek Buddies.
Allan Thomas Paley was an American guitarist, banjo and fiddle player. He was best known for his work with the New Lost City Ramblers in the 1950s and 1960s.
Sonny Osborne was an American bluegrass musician and founding member of the Osborne Brothers.
Roland Joseph White was an American bluegrass music artist, performing principally on the mandolin. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Hylo Brown was an American bluegrass and country music singer, guitarist and bass player.
The Lilly Brothers, were bluegrass musicians born in Clear Creek, West Virginia. They have been credited with bringing bluegrass to New England and with influencing such future bluegrass artists as Peter Rowan, Joe Val and Bill Keith, among others.
Old timefiddle is the style of American fiddling found in old-time music. Old time fiddle tunes are derived from European folk dance forms such as the jig, reel, breakdown, schottische, waltz, two-step, and polka. When the fiddle is accompanied by banjo, guitar, mandolin, or other string instruments, the configuration is called a string band. The types of tunes found in old-time fiddling are called "fiddle tunes", even when played by instruments other than a fiddle.
Bluegrass fiddling is a distinctive style of American fiddle playing which is characterized by bold, bluesy improvisation, off-beat "chopping", and sophisticated use of both double-stops and old-time bowing patterns.
Sandy Rothman is an American, San Francisco Bay Area bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He plays mandolin, dobro and banjo, and he also sings. Rothman was a friend and colleague of Grateful Dead bandleader Jerry Garcia, and a member of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. He played bluegrass with Garcia and David Nelson as the Black Mountain Boys in 1964, and has played in 1964 with Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Earl Taylor, Red Allen, Jimmie Skinner, Larry Sparks, the Kentucky Colonels, Country Joe McDonald, Kathy Kallick and Clarence White, among other musicians. He has been described as "one of the chief biscuits when and where bluegrass music is discussed, scribed, or performed in northern California."
Copper Creek Records is a record label based in Roanoke, Virginia specializing primarily in bluegrass and old-time music.
Dudley Dale Connell is an American singer in the bluegrass tradition. He is best known for his work with the Johnson Mountain Boys, Longview, and The Seldom Scene.
Ron Stewart is an American multi-instrumentalist in the bluegrass tradition. He plays fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and has won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Fiddle Player of the Year in 2000 and Banjo Player of the Year in 2011.
Gary Brewer is an American guitarist and banjoist in the bluegrass tradition. He is best known for leading the Kentucky Ramblers, and for staging the annual Strictly Bluegrass festival.
Herschel Lee Sizemore was an American mandolinist in the bluegrass tradition.
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