see also:
Photographs
Discography
Diamond Studs
first NY play
has its own
souvenirs
Blurred Time
Bill Hicks' history
of RCR
The Ramblers were on the leading edge of a revival of old-time music. They not only brought the old songs to a new audience, they also expanded the genre with original work and arrangements. The articles chronicle their contributions, the scholarship behind the music, and the fun of the performances.
Some interviews speculate on what the Red Clay Ramblers would become. Read them now with 20/20 hindsight. Many of their dreams came true and continue.
Red Clay Ramblers' Business Card ~1974 (artist: Kerry Blech)
Articles, journal entries, pictures 
ARTICLES All-Original
Era 1972-1981
1980 Frets article "Red Clay Ramblers - String Band Music for the 80s" 1980 Folkscene article: Red Clay Ramblers - Everyone's Favorite String Band 1979 interview with Tommy Thompson on the roots of Rambler music from the live NPR broadcast from Dayton, Ohio. 1978 Folkscene article on the Cambridge (England) Folk Festival including the Red Clay Ramblers 1978 Folkscene concert review: Ralph Stanley and the Red Clay Ramblers 1977 Victory Music Folk and Jazz Review: Ralph Stanley/Red Clay Ramblers Contrast in Style 1977 Pickin' review/interview: they really were gods in Johnson City! 1977 The Folk Life review of the Red Clay Ramblers at Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA. Mercy! You'll believe you are there. 1977 London
reviews from Melody Maker and Sounds Aquarian cover sketches with Jerry Garcia "Ramblers' Bill Hicks Lives For the Music" - 1978 interview by Susan Ketchin "Red Clay Ramblers' Style is Eclectic" - 1978 interview with Bill Hicks Duke
Alumni Profile: Jim Watson '70
1976 Smithsonian article about the Blurs playing at A.P. Carter's Store 1976 A review of the album Twisted Laurel "Red Clay Ramblers Give Up Broadway for Hillbilly Music" 1975 Raleigh Times interview with Tommy and Bill at the end of Diamond Studs' NY run "Red Clay Ramblers Warble at Ark" 1977 Michigan Daily review 1989 interview with Jim Watson from the Mandocrucian's Digest. Read his history of RCR and mando techniques Almost
Original Era 1981-1986
1986 "Old Time Sounds With Wit, In Taste" 1985 review "Ramblers
Return to Cabaret" Indianapolis
"‘New-timey music’ a Rambler calls it" - 1984 Richmond (Va) Times Dispatch interview with Tommy Thompson 1983 "Red Clay Ramblers spice up ‘Whatzit’ music with humor" Anchorage Daily News Current
Era 1987 to present
1993 Durham Independent, "Red Clay, Broadway" - Fool Moon begins 1992 Carolina Alumni Review "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" - RCR at 20 1988 Option
- RCR and Sam Shepard, Roger Miller, Eugene Chadbourne
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Year-by-year chronology
POSTERS GIGS DIAMOND STUDS INTERNATIONAL A taste of what's available on our poster pages: 1980 concert with EmmyLou Harris and 1977 concert in Romania  
Tour calendars (1976-1981) (and a new 1992 Middle East trip with news article)  A year in the Life of a Rambler
New York concert ads 1975 Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion newsletter about RCR 1978 Chuckin' the Frizz handwritten production notes 1979, Eugene Chadbourne review, and 2003 must-have album choice of the Durham Independent Merchants Lunch handwritten lyrics to the song and the back cover of the LP. Kerry Blech's memories of the early Blurs
RCR and Theater - overview page Program from Life on the Mississippi (1982) Program, reviews, and more from Lone Star Love, or the Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas (1972-2001)
6 pages
of photos 1972-1986
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March
1, 2008