The Lonesome River Band in Europe July 2000
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General background THE LONESOME RIVER BAND has earned a reputation as one of the most entertaining and energetic acts in bluegrass. Recognised for their continuing success, professional accolades include lead singer/bass player Ronnie Bowman's third (1995, '98, '99) International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year award. Sammy Shelor has four times been given (1995, '96, '97, '98) the (IBMA) Banjo Player of the Year award for his instrumental talent and innovative style. Mandolin player Don Rigsby regarded as one of the best tenor singers in bluegrass music, has been recognised for his outstanding contributions on collaborative projects with the bluegrass super-group Longview. Two-time (IBMA) Guitar Player of the Year Kenny Smith (1998, '99) has made a name for himself as one of the hot guns of bluegrass guitar. Veteran bluegrass fiddle player Rickie Simpkins comes to group with a resume that includes the Virginia Squires, and the Tony Rice Unit.
Each member of the LRB has recorded and released a solo project involving other band members as well as many of their musical contemporaries. Individually drawing on influences from old-time music, country, and gospel the band members continue to explore their musical roots. Taken as a whole the band blends the best elements of traditional and contemporary bluegrass style. A high-energy show is the hallmark of a LRB performance. Tight vocal harmonies and instrumental virtuosity are a signature part of their sound. Whether at a festival or concert the band exudes an energetic and exciting presence. The band continues to uphold and expand the boundaries of bluegrass music making them one of the premier acts in the genre. At Helsby Ex-Servicemen's Club (UK) Roger Padfield writes: THE APPEARANCE OF the Lonesome River Band at Helsby was a major coup for promoter Bryn Williams, being the only gig played by the band on their UK visit outside the Cambridge Folk Festival. The show was predictably sold out well in advance, with 150 enthusiasts crammed into the club's well-appointed function room. They witnessed bluegrass music of the highest quality from an elite five-piece outfit. The Lonesome River band features Don Rigsby on mandolin and lead vocals, Kenny Smith on guitar, Sammy Schelor on banjo, Rickie Simpkins on fiddle and Ronnie Bowman on an unusual acoustic bass guitar. The first set comprised mainly material from their latest sugar Hill album Talkin' to Myself, which includes a mixture of originals and covers of older material. The second set was more diverse, with the individual band members featuring numbers from their own solo albums.
Lonesome River Band at Craponne, France July 2000 The musicianship was of the highest quality whilst the lead singing of Don Rigsby and Ronnie Bowman and the harmonies of the other band members was, at times, spine-tingling. It is hard to pick out highlights as the show was a masterpiece from beginning to end but I must mention the album's title track Talkin' to Myself, featuring some excellent vocalising from Ronnie Bowman, Mary Ann (an old Jimmy Martin ballad), and a blistering instrumental version of Sally Good'n. The show concluded in memorable fashion with the Tom T.Hall song Empty Old Mailbox, which is the title track of Don Rigsby's new solo album. An unforgettable evening from five masters of the genre. Roger Padfield, Cardiff At Craponne Country Music Festival (France) Jean-Marc Delon writes: AFTER A SUPER show in Basel, Switzerland on July 26, the Lonesome River Band drew thousands of fans to the Country Rendez-Vous Festival in Craponne Sur Arzon, near Lyon, France, on July 28 & 29, 2000. The Lonesome River Band appeared twice on the festival stage, first on Friday backing Kathy Chiavola, a fantastic singer from Nashville, and then on Saturday for their own set. The Craponne audience loves bluegrass music, so having one of the best of today's American bands right in front of them drove them almost crazy, with thousands of people on their feet, yelling and having a mighty fine time. That's probably why Ronnie Bowman spent most of the set with huge grin on his face! The band played mostly songs from their new CD Talking to myself and several number from their previous albums, ending the show with two encores including, together with the French band Bluegrass 43, Nine pound hammer. The response of the audience was really tremendous and after the show the crowd rushed to the CD booth to buy CD's, get autographs and talk with the band.
I hear that their shows at the Cambridge Folk Festival and in the Liverpool area where very successful, too, so I'm happy that we could make it happen. I'm sure that the band enjoyed their European tour and I hope we'll be able to bring another band of that caliber in Europe next year. Any help will be welcome (venues, festivals, music promoters...) You can contact me at jmdelon@avo.net or
Jean-Marc Delon, Brives-Charensac, France.
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Jean Marc Georges Carrier of Lyon, who sent the photo, told us "One thing I can tell you is that they really hit the stage and people had bluegrass right in the face - which proves that this style of music is far from being obsolete. On the contrary the LRB are a credit to the genre and the 6000 people attending the show went wild!" We were in France on vacation and planned to go to Crappone, only 90 km away. Unfortunately the Land Rover broke down so we had to make do with playing CDs and looking at the bands' signatures on our golfing umbrellas! Ed. Our man Geoff Bowers writes: WHAT A MARVELLOUS night the Lonesome River Band show was at Helsby! Naturally, it was a complete sell-out before the doors opened - well who's not going to pay a measly tenner to see the cutting edge of Bluegrass music? The band was, of course, awesome. I could just go on and on about this fabulous band but since so many of your readers were there I'm sure that it's a little redundant. The sound engineer and his state-of-the-art sound system control were something to see and behold! I'd really like to tell you about that. He had a cigar-shaped probe pointed at the stage which sampled the room's response to the band. This in turn, was fed into a lap-top computer which compared that to the sound which was going out through the system and adjusted each stage accordingly. Oh my, oh my! He had a (literally) unique unit beneath his computer into which was fed the mixer output. That went out to the graphic equaliser and back into the unit. Finally,the signal went out to the power amp. Since each stage went through this unit, the signal at each stage could be looked at in beautiful coloured detail on an amazing dancing graph on the lap-top. The fact that Bryn Williams was able to pull off this great coup is a great credit to him. It was a truly memorable night as all present will testify. My wife Pat and I considered it more than worth the trip - as did a chap sitting near to us who had travelled three hundred miles from the south. Well done Bryn and the lads - these shows don't just happen, they are the culmination of a lot of hard work. More power to your elbow(s). Best', Geoff Bowers, Nottingham.
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Photo Copyright © 2000
LRB.
