The Red Clay Ramblers' music is hard to define. Critics call it a sprightly hybrid of Cajun and Irish, Tin Pan Alley and Dixieland jazz, with a blend of bluegrass, blues, spirituals and polka. Onstage, they are silly and serious, lively and melancholy, always full of fun and banter as they shift through a dazzling array of instruments. (Click on any pic to go to a larger view with captions)

"We like to be considered versatile," says Chris Frank, who calls himself the band's "utility player."

Perhaps The Washington Post put it best when it dubbed the Ramblers "America's premiere whatzit band." But call them eclectic, eccentric or quirky, this band's elusive quality has taken them far in the past two decades: across the country and around the world, through bars and concert halls, from recording studios to movie sets. Most important, it has given them the longevity of which most bands only dream. With a string of albums, theatrical productions and other projects behind them, the Red Clay Ramblers this year mark their 20th anniversary— and what a banner year it has been.

For starters, there was the spring release of the band's 12th album, Rambler, as well as the reissue of three earlier albums on CD. Michelle Shocked's newest album, Arkansas Traveler, on which the Ramblers play a cut, also hit the record stores around the same time. Then there was a role in Sam Shepard's new movie, Silent Tongue, with Alan Bates and Richard Harris, which took them to the outlands of New Mexico for three weeks. After filming, they were off to the Near East on a five-week tour for the U.S. Information Agency and then to New York for a two-night stand at Lincoln Center. Squeezed in among all this activity was the usual array of concerts, festivals and benefits. They rounded off the year Dec. 4 with a 20th anniversary concert at Memorial Hall.

Not bad for a bunch of down-home guys who simply like to play music.

"We're just musicians who hate to say no, I guess," Frank chuckles.

If any one characteristic defines this multitalented, versatile band, it is their dedication to traditional music and their creativity in keeping it alive. "We're devoted to the preservation and revitalization of really good American music in a variety of applications," says pianist Bland Simpson '70, who also teaches creative writing at UNC.

The Red Clay Ramblers originated in 1972 as an Appalachian string band called the Hollow Rock String Band, which played mainly conventional tunes. "We tried to sound exactly like we'd existed in 1930," says banjo player Tommy Thompson. "That was our aim." Since then, however, the band has undergone many changes. Musically, they have progressed far beyond their beginnings—after all, what other old-time band would feature horns and bouzouki? They have also expanded from a trio to a quintet, though trying to figure out their chronology is about as exasperating as defining their style. Suffice it to say that Thompson is the only remaining original member.

Thompson, a laconic, amiable man who has penned such soulful ballads as "Twisted Laurel" and "Hot Buttered Rum" was a graduate student in philosophy when he formed the initial threesome with Jim Watson and Bill Hicks '65. "I loved the philosophy department at UNC," he recalls. "I really learned a lot." But music gradually seduced him away from a dissertation and finally took over altogether.

In 1973 the trio grew to a quartet with Mike Craver '70, a UNC English graduate, playing piano—a rather odd addition for a string band. Then in 1975 they really got radical, adding Jack Herrick '70 on bass and trumpet, and the peculiar makeup of the Red Clay Ramblers was complete.

Life was quiet for the Ramblers in the early years. They played locally and in 1974 recorded their first album, which still reflected their traditional leanings. But the tide turned in 1975 when the band got involved with the theatrical production Diamond Studs, a musical about Jesse James written by Simpson and fellow UNC. graduate Jim Wann '70. At the time, Simpson was playing piano in a group known as the Southern States Fidelity Choir and collaborating with Wann on theatrical pieces that would eventually include Hot Grog and King Mackerel and the Blues Are Running. (Click on any pic to go to a larger view with captions)

Like Thompson, Simpson had been lured from academics to music. A political science major, he had planned to go to law school, but a recording contract drew him to New York instead. His experience there convinced hm to stay with music, though he has fond memories of professors such as Jeffrey Obler, Earl Wallace and Andy Scott. He still maintains close ties with political science professor Lewis Lipsitz, whom he calls "an inspired man."

Diamond Studs premiered at the Ranch House in Chapel Hill in October 1974, with the Ramblers and the Fidelity Choir providing the music. It moved to New York in January 1975 for a seven-month run off-Broadway and received rave reviews. "It was a very exciting time for all of us," Craver recalls, "being the toast of the town and having a hit show." It was during this time that Herrick arrived on the scene, first as an actor in the production and then as the fifth member of thc band.

Diamond Studs marked the band's foray into theater, in which they have remained active through the years. More important, it crystallized their shift from revivalist music to a more original, contemporary and creative sound—the eclectic music—which was to become their trademark. It was also the moment of truth as the Ramblers took the plunge and quit their jobs— Thompson from the faculty of North Carolina State University, Hicks from Duke University Press and Watson from a Raleigh library, while Craver dropped to part time at UNC.

The Ramblers struggled like any young group, hitting the road for gigs, playing for a pittance and spending more time up North than in their own territory. "It was really frustrating," Thompson recalls. "We had a hard time getting people to take us seriously." They were, after all, just another homespun band in the heyday of folk music, though they did manage regular stints at the old Cat's Cradle (now the Skylight Exchange), while appearances at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Canada also helped broaden their exposure.

With the release of six albums over the next few years, the band's reputation grew, as did the whimsical sound they were refining as their own. Internal shifts began to occur as well. Hicks left in 1981, and Clay Buckner joined just in time for a tour to Alaska. Buckner, who had grown up in nearby Elon College, played fiddle, mandolin and harmonica, and added a dash of Southern vaudeville to the band. (Click on any pic to go to a larger view with captions)

Around the same time, the Ramblers met Chris Frank in a Tennessee club, establishing a friendship that eventually led to Frank's joining the band in 1986 on guitar, trombone and accordion. The final change would also be in 1986, when Craver left to pursue a theatrical career in New York.

Then one day Sam Shepard heard a Ramblers tune on the radio as he was driving around in his pickup truck in Iowa during the filming of Country. Thompson was astounded to come home one afternoon and find a phone message from the playwright and director. "It was love at first sound," Thompson says. "He just liked our music because it was so American."

That serendipitous encounter led to the Ramblers composing and performing for Shepard's off-Broadway production of A Lie of the Mind in 1985-86 and then in 1988 scoring his first feature film, Far North. In the film Silent Tongue, also written and directed by Shepard, the Ramblers portray a band in an 1870s traveling medicine show—a play within a play—for which they developed a repertoire of Irish tunes. (Click on any pic to go to a larger view with captions)

Associating with one of America's most creative and prolific artists has certainly been fulfilling for all the Ramblers, and over the years the relationship has evolved into one of deep natural trust. As Thompson says, "You just couldn't find a better boss or better work." The fact that Shepard himself is an accomplished musician with roots in folk probably has much to do with the easy rapport they have established.

"Working with Sam is great because he really trusts the people he hires," Frank says. "He's allowed us a lot of freedom in creating the music, and you feel like you're very much a part of that creative project."

An unexpected spin-off from Silent Tongue took the band to Lincoln Center in late July 1992. Informal sessions with two actors in the film, professional clowns David Shiner and Bill Irwin, led to an invitation for the band to join them in the Serious Fun Festival at Alice Tully Hall, where two nights of vaudevillian frolic pulled in packed houses. The show's success boosted it to a scheduled Broadlway run in 1993, and the boys are pleased to have helped it along.

On the other end of the spectrum, the quirky style of the Red Clay Ramblers has attracted the interest of the U.S. government. This past spring the Ramblers participated in a Near East Tour sponsored by the Arts America division of the U.S. Information Agency, the fourth such program they have done for that government organization. Previous engagements took them to Eastern Europe, sub-Sahara Africa and the Jerash Festival in Jordan.

“One of the things we like about their music is that it is not easily classifiable," says Richard Kaplan, a program manager in the Arts America office. "It mingles many traditions in an original way."

 This year's tour took the Ramblers to Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, an experience most of them found quite extraordinary. "We expected it to be somewhat hostile and arid," Herrick says. "Instead, it was extremely enjoyable."

The band played in a variety of locations, from ambassadors' residences to university coffeehouses to municipal theaters, as well as participating in workshops, lectures and demonstrations. Audiences flocked to their shows. "It was a very positive response," Simpson says.

Thompson speculates that the sheer novelty of their sound was infectious. "Arab music has no chords and no harmony," he explains. "I think our music sounded so rich that it gave them an auditory pleasure they've probably never experienced before. So we were pleasing them in a way that we never thought of at the time."

Kaplan feels that the band fulfilled the USIA's goals perfectly.

"Musically, they represent the best of that particular genre," he says. "As individuals, as cultural ambassadors, they were superb - patient and generous in explaining their own music. We like  participants who are open to new artistic and cultural experiences, and they fit the bill on all these counts."

The Ramblers agree. "We were interested in sharing our music with the people of North Africa, and they in turn were interested in showing us their culture," Frank says. "They were very open and friendly and warm. I think everybody was touched by it."

Many other notable accomplishments chart the road the Red Clay Ramblers have traveled these past two decades. Theatrical achievements include Pump Boys and Dinettes, a 1982 Broadway show to which Simpson contributed music and which earned a Tony nomination, and a performance in the pre-Broadway run of Big River in La Jolla, Calif. The rollicking Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas, the highly successful, Shakespearean-inspired delight for which Thompson, Herrick and Simpson helped compose music and lyrics, will have a revival next spring in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Along the way, there have been several stints on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion." In addition, the band's music has been featured on the hit TV series "Northern Exposure," the popular soap opera "Ryan's Hope," the Nature Science network and PBS's "The Woodwright's Shop," as well as in videos for the Audubon Society and Glaxo Corp.

Closer to home, the Ramblers have been involved in many ventures. UNC events have included concerts with the Loreleis in Memorial Hall as well as performances in the Student Union, Gerrard Hall and other campus locations. In 1982 a musical by Simpson and Thompson based on Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi kicked off the PlayMakers season, setting a box office record for attendance. The band has also worked closely with the N.C. Center for Public Television on several projects, such as a documentary on The Merry Wives and a segment of "The Rough South," based on the stories of Tim McLaurin '85. (Click on any pic to go to a larger view with captions)

"We've had a really nice relationship with the school," says Herrick, who originally came to Chapel Hill from Massachusetts to attend UNC. With a major in English and music, Herrick's University experiences fed his own career; he recalls being deeply inspired in classical music by Lara Hoggard and says that Doris Betts kindled his interest in creative writing.

For all the camaraderie among this convivial bunch, there is life outside the Red Clay Ramblers, which no doubt strengthens their solidarity. While other interests necessarily defer to the demands of the group, most of them are involved in separate projects or occupations.

Simpson teaches fiction writing and short-story seminars in the English department. Professor Max Steele '46 invited him to join the staff in 1982 after Simpson had completed his first novel, Heart of the Country (about Southern music -  what else?). He taught until 1986 and then rejoined the staff in 1989 at the request of Professor Jim Seay. Simpson also worked with the N.C. Center for Public Television on "Appalachian Express," a music show, and "The North Carolina Story," a Civil War series.

In 1984 Thompson wrote a one-man play about a fictitious 19th-century minstrel man, The Last Song of John Proffit, in which Buckner also appeared. Thompson's Merry Wives had a production in UNC's Forest Theatre. In 1986 he and fellow Rambler Herrick composed the music for Earrings, a theatrical adaptation of local author Lee Smith's novel Oral History, and this year he scored Savages, a play by John Justice.

All the Ramblers stay active on the Chapel Hill music scene. Buckner belongs to a swing quartet called Fiddle-X, which also includes WUNC engineer Don Mercz and which holds an annual Christmas show at the old PlayMakers Theatre or the ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Frank has a side band as well, The Guy Libido Orchestra, and participates in monthly Irish jams at the Cave.

"We are definitely a Chapel Hill band,'' Frank says. "We're all fed by it and feed into it. This town has alwayx found a place for different kinds of music, and it's been good to us. We're pretty grateful."

After 20 years together, the future remains bright for the Red Clay Ramblers. At a time when most bands would be thinking of retiring—if they had managed to even make it this far—the Ramblers are just gearing up. "We'd be crazy not to stay together,'' Thompson says.

No one knows what lies ahead. As Frank says, "We're looking for the next wave of whatever it is. We hope we'll be ready for it." They anticipate more movie and theatrical work, and they would like to tour their home state.

"We draw so much strength and so much of our music from North Carolina and its traditions," Simpson says. "We'd like to bring the music back to where it came from."

Concerts are already booked next year for Morganton, Raleigh and Charlotte, as well as outside the state. Simpson and Herrick are working on a show commemorating UNC's bicentennial that will be produced by the Cape Fear Regional Theatre.

But topping the excitement of this 20th anniversary year will bc tough. Albums, concerts, foreign tours, movies, New York—what more could there be?

"I don't really foresee or expect anything," Buckner says. "I just try to go with it. That's what we've been doing for 20 years."