Review of Concert by the Dry Branch Fire Squad at the Lucy Opry on February 17, 2007

 

by Betty Westmoreland

 

When the Dry Branch Fire Squad ambled onto the stage at the Lucy Opry in the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center (BPACC) on February 17, 2007, their loyal followers knew that they were about to be entertained in a major way. Those folks were not disappointed.

 

Memphis bluegrass fans have loved their Dry Branch Fire Squad for a lot of years. They love the vocals, the instrumental work, the CDs, caps and T-shirts. They even love the Dry Branch Fire Squad Security System, more easily recognized, perhaps, as a little signature pocket knife. But, the thing that these fans have come to count on and to tell their friends about is the wit and wisdom of Ron Thomason, the leader of the band. Originally from Appalachia and now living in the area known as the Front Range of Colorado, Ron Thomason has put together a wonderful mix of fine music and the most wonderful stories about people and animals he has known and loved over time. He kids around, even doing his singing in a rather “aw, shucks” manner, but he is a master of the mandolin, guitar, and the clawhammer style of banjo pickin’. He selects his songs with real purpose, often beginning a song with a particular story about a person, a highway sign on an interstate, an event in a supermarket, or some opportunity he had to give a workshop somewhere. Thomason is one of the best at making it appear as though he and the band just threw something together backstage and came out to do it for the audience. The good ones make it look so easy!

 

Brian Aldridge is from Springfield, OH, and he, too is a master at vocals, guitar, and mandolin. Traditional in style, Brian is well suited for the music of the Dry Branch Fire Squad. Of special interest to mandolin enthusiasts was the story of Brian’s mandolin, which Bill Monroe played for a time during some much-needed repairs to “the mandolin”.

 

Dan Russell is from Hillsboro, OH, and he keeps the band in time with some masterful work on the upright bass. His vocals help to round out the unique sound of the Dry Branch Fire Squad. Although he plays a rather unassuming role onstage, he is definitely there and keeping that laid-back feeling going.

 

Tom Boyd is from Chicago, IL. He plays solid banjo and Dobro, and his vocals contribute still further to the full, edgy sound for which the Dry Branch Fire Squad is known. Boyd may have one of the greatest smiles in all of bluegrass music. He never stopped pickin’ or smiling during their entire performance.

 

 Set 1

  1. Over in the Glory Land
  2. I’ve Lived a Lot in My Time
  3. Orphan Child

Minor disruption: broken mandolin string and Ron’s switch to clawhammer banjo

  1. He’s Comin’ to Us Dead (a story about the G. B. Grayson [1920’s fiddler from East TN] song which is a favorite of Thomason’s son who has served in the military)
  2. Shenandoah Breakdown (Bill Monroe song)
  3. Have Someone Play Dixie for Me (Brian on mandolin, Ron on guitar)
  4. Orphan Train (Utah Phillips song, Ron says that Phillips has the greatest name in folk and bluegrass music)
  5. Echo Mountain (this writer cannot listen without tears, Ron comments about the song that when man doesn’t use good judgment, the innocent pay)
  6. Roanoke (Bill Monroe song, Brian featured on mandolin)
  7. Ezekiel Saw the Wheel (a cappella)
  8. I Saw a Man (written by Gaither Carlton, fiddler and banjo player from NC, father-in-law to Doc Watson)

 

  Set 2

1.       How Mountain Girls Can Love

2.       Girl at the Bar

3.       I Can Go to Them (a cappella gospel, precious friends are waiting on the other side)

4.       Bluegrass Breakdown

5.       By the Mark (Gillian Welch-David Rawlings song)

6.       John Henry (instrumental)

7.       Stormy Waters (borrowed from the days of “Lester Road Hog”)

8.       Fifty Miles of Elbow Room (Ron on clawhammer banjo, Carter Family song)

9.       Aragon Mill (industrialization of the South, “weave and spin”)

10.   Seven Spanish Angels

11.   Balo (about a favorite horse that raced well into old age; Ron featured seated and performing hambone in tribute to his black childhood friend, Bobby, who taught him ‘honky hambone’)

12.   I’m Goin’ Up on a Mountain

   Encore: Lonesome Road Blues

 

The Dry Branch Fire Squad performs all over the United States and beyond. In their ‘spare’ time, they host two well-known and very well attended bluegrass festivals. Those folks who came out on a bitterly cold night to see this band perform in their usual style—that which appears simple and easy but isn’t—were treated to a wonderful show filled with great music, fascinating stories, and this band’s genuine respect for incredibly talented musicians, many of whom have left us. Those musicians have left their music in very capable hands—the hands of the Dry Branch Fire Squad.

 

Additional Information:

 

Dry Branch Fire Squad   www.drybranchfiresquad.com

 

Grey Fox Festival   www.greyfoxfestival.com (formerly Winterhawk—Ancramdale, NY)

 

High Mountain Hay Fever   www.highmountainhayfever.org (Westcliffe, CO)

 

Utah Phillips   www.utahphillips.com

 

Gaither Carlton   www.ibiblio.org/DocWat/Gaither.html

 

The Carter Family   www.carterfamilyfold.org

 

MABA   www.memphis-bluegrass.org

 

Lucy Opry   www.lucyopry.com

 

BPACC   www.bpacc.org