James Reams | Old Time Music from New York & Kentucky

March 26, 2009

Dr. Kent: That was a tune from James Reams and the Barnstormers from an album called Troubled Times. The song is called Troubled Times and now we have the honor of chatting with James Reams and these are indeed troubled times so welcome to the show James.

James Reams: Dr. Kent, it’s so wonderful to hear your voice!

Dr. Kent: You are from Kentucky and you ended up in New York. Tell us about that journey.

James Reams: What happened was when I was a kid I really enjoyed print work, there was a person that I met who was actually a young girl and I had some romantic interest in her and also I had some interest in print making and I came to new York city with a cardboard box and a pair of work shoes and got thrown into the whole trade and it was probably the best thing that happened to me in my life as I was raised there in eastern Kentucky and it was sort of hard scrabble but all of a sudden I came to new York and it was a completely different world. I got to meet people from all walks of life and it was an amazing adventure and still is.

Dr. Kent: As someone who, I live out on Long Island but I do know there’s an old time thriving music scene in New York and what I love about your music is it’s not polished to the T, it’s got that old time feel to it. Tell me about your theories on music and how that fits in New York City?

James Reams: Well you know yeah, I actually like the old time sounds and I was raised that way and I know also that you appreciate it too. I know that you have a book coming out about Doc Watson actually and he’s a hero of mine and so many people and what I like about music is I like it to be authentic and real and when we go and record an album we do it live in the studio with very little fixing and I also for years in the city I helped support a blue grass and old time convention that happens every year and this following year will be 12 years that we’ve had it going on. It’s called bluegrass and old time jamboree in park slope and it’s held by the Ethical Society and we have over 700 people who come in and have workshops and we have masters of the instruments. New York has a lot of great figures and they show people how to play mandolin, fiddle, banjo, we have film series and we really enjoy it, we’re having it in September.

Dr. Kent: Where do folks find out about that?

James Reams: They can go to my website at www.jamesreams.com and also a facebook page that has a listing of things and a nice film of last year where we had a new lost city ramblers celebration. We had two of the original new lost city ramblers and it was special to them because it had been 50 years from the night that they played together and its very rare film footage on that facebook page. You don’t have to be a facebook member to see it.

Dr. Kent: I’m looking at it right now, it’s in September 11-12, 2009 in Prospect Park area. That seems pretty neat and there’s some video up there of John Cohen, I think that’s who you’re talking about right?

James Reams: That’s right, John Cohen and Tom Paley. Tom has this really interesting history because he used to work with Woody Guthrie. Toms a New York fellow who is a big part of old time music and played with Woody Guthrie and now he lives over in England and he comes over occasionally. I recorded an album with him too, something that came out on Copper Creek Records. Mysterious Redbirds were Tom and I and Bill Christophersen recorded an old time album of some of the old-time songs and tunes. Tom was just such a big influence on me and part of what I love about music is to honor those who have made it and I also had another opportunity to make an album with a real legendary character, somebody in bluegrass many people may not know probably, a cult legend named Walter Hensley who was the very first banjo player to play Carnegie Hall. He played with Earl Taylor and I think it was 1952 [1959] and I did two albums with him and that was really exciting too and one was actually nominated for a blue grass recorded event of the year by the international bluegrass music association, which I know you’re a member of.

Dr. Kent: I am now, I just joined and the funny thing about blue grass I like that the world talks about old time music as bluegrass but there’s such a big difference. There’s a different amount of heart in old time music I think.

James Reams: I think there is a big difference and the music that I love the most straddles those two and in the 1930s and 1940s and probably even a little into the 50s there were people who straddled those two and that’s the type of music that really inspires me and there’s still some people doing that today, like the Dry Branch Fire Squad and there’s a number of groups that try to straddle that old time bluegrass, but you’re right there’s two different camps and that’s sort of a shame. Even in bluegrass there’s like two different camps, traditional and contemporary and I think all the labels and I know that you’re a believer in this too. All those labels, they help have people understand, but also they hurt. I think that a lot of times musicians like yourself and myself what we do is create music and its almost organic, it just comes out from us so I’m hard pressed to even sometimes label what I do even though I think most of the time I get my records thrown in the bluegrass bin. It feels like an extension of me and I think that’s where music becomes a wonderful part of your life.

Dr. Kent: I had the great pleasure this year, I went to the thanksgiving concert of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger at Carnegie hall and that was a real blast for me because I grew up with that music and their music crosses over between bluegrass old time somewhere in there and Pete Seeger, it was so neat to see him as part of the inauguration ceremonies this year. Talk about Pete Seeger and I guess the history of this music. What’s your take on all of it?

James Reams: Well Pete Seeger is I think an unsung hero of music and also his half-brother Mike Seeger too but Pete Seeger had that rainbow quest television program out of NYC and you still get the films of that where he brought in like Doc Watson and Clint Howard and Fred Price and those folks and also Johnny Cash and the Stanley Brothers. People in the urban world had become aware so I think Pete Seeger has really made so many people aware of their roots and that’s what I think right now in America you really see this new type of music; Americana, and you see that its being embraced by more and more people and I understand how people say I don’t really like country music because its turned its back on the roots of music. I think that if people have a sort of idea that they don’t like something like country music maybe they should explore the roots because the roots of it are extremely beautiful because it’s made by everyday people who struggle and with making their lives better through music.

Dr. Kent: All right, so you’ve got this record Wild Card, another one Troubled Times. Give us your advertisement about that.

James Reams: The Troubled Times record is really interesting because it has a CD and DVD. In the DVD I actually interviewed a lot of the pioneers of bluegrass music. Jimmy Martin, Sonny & Bobby Osborne, and the DVD is free when you buy the CD Troubled Times, its one of those two-for discs and there’s a documentary about myself and the jamboree and the Barnstormers and follows us making this music out of NYC, which so many people say this seems so strange – a bluegrass band out of NYC but we do and if you look at our schedule we’ll be playing west Virginia this year and places like that. The documentary shows how we grow bluegrass in the cracks of the city where we say red clay meets concrete. I guess you can get it at cdbaby or amazon. Plus I have a number of other albums available like you said; Wild Card, with the great John Glik and all of them are still available except my very first one Song Birds, which is out of print.

Dr. Kent: I love the sound and we’re going to play one more track. This one is from Wild Card, we’re the kind of people that make the juke box play. Tell me about that?

James Reams: I’ll tell you what that is; I like to take some of the older country forms and I love honky tonk country music and we’re the type of people who make the juke box play is a honky tonk song written by Johnny Paycheck that he was never able to record. We found it, changed it and made it bluegrass and we’re just so proud of it. So yeah, we hope that everybody enjoys it and I want to thank you for your time. I really appreciate you calling. I’m in Arizona now and I appreciate you tracking me down!

Dr. Kent: Absolutely, I would love to have you on again sometime. Its fun chatting about old-time music. There’s not many of us out there, I think a lot of people would love it if they hear it, but I’m a big fan.

James Reams: I know you’re originally from Oklahoma and the whole bit and I think it’s wonderful what you do along with everything else.

Dr. Kent: It’s been an honor speaking with James Reams. We’re going to listen to a track from Wild Card called We’re the Kind of People that Make the Jukebox Play. Troubled Times has a bonus DVD and what a perfect song and album for these times. Thank you so much for chatting with me and lets get together again down the road.

[music]

Dr. Kent: That was a beautiful tune from a guy named James Reams and that was his band with him, the Barnstormers. You can find out about him at jamesreams.com. What an honor to speak with all our superstar guests today. Alphie McCourt’s A Long Stones Throw, Dr. Allan Hamilton with The Scalpel and the Soul and Donald Greco’s Abramo’s Gift. Be safe and we’ll see you next week and read a good book between now and then!

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