James Reams | Troubled Times Music

April 2, 2009

Interview with James Reams | Troubled Times [20:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I had a great conversation with James Reams about New York city and old time music. I can’t wait to have him on the show again. More about James from his website:

James Reams & The Barnstormers plays
old-school bluegrass music.

James Reams formed James Reams & The Barnstormers in 1993. Originally from southeastern Kentucky, James migrated north in his mid-teens when his family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he stayed until he moved to Brooklyn, New York, in the early 1980s. James has played both old-time and bluegrass music since he was a child. There were traditional singers on both sides of his family, and his father played in a string band. His hometown of London, Kentucky, honored him in 2004 for his contributions to the arts and sciences at its annual Laurel County Homecoming.

James is deeply involved in a thriving bluegrass and old-time music community in NYC. He has made several old-time and bluegrass recordings. His original songs (alone and co-written with Tina Aridas) are important additions to the bluegrass repertoire. His guitar playing was highlighted in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine’s Masters of Rhythm Guitar column. In addition to leading James Reams & The Barnstormers, he is the organizer of the annual Park Slope Bluegrass/Old-Time Jamboree, an annual music festival he started in 1998 that attracts 700 musicians and fans of traditional music to its workshops, jamming and concerts and is the only event of its kind in or around New York City.

In addition, James is working on a documentary film, Pioneers of Bluegrass Music, in which he interviews some of the first generation of bluegrass musicians about life on the road in the early days of the music. The project is still in production (a 20-minute preview was released on DVD as part of the Troubled Times CD).

Mark Farrell, like James, is no stranger to bluegrass and old-time country music, having played and recorded for many years with a number of bluegrass and old-time string bands, including Major Contay & The Canebrake Rattlers. He also contributes his great arranging talent to many of the band’s recordings. His great hoedown fiddling and edgy mandolin playing (as well as his sometimes unpredictable humor) earns him friends wherever he goes. Doug Nicolaisen has been playing banjo with bluegrass bands in the NY tri-state area for the past 17 years. His music incorporates many of the best elements of all the major banjo players yet his style reflects an individuality of its own and adds to the hard-driving energy of the band. The newest member of the Barnstormers, Nick Sullivan, has been playing bass since he was a tot. In the northern woods of Wisconsin he started playing 1950s rock and roll when he was 12 and has covered lots of musical terrain since that time, from ragtime jazz and West African traditional music to early country music and bluegrass. He adds rock-solid bass and great singing to the Barnstormers’ sound.

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