Red Clay Ramblers

Location: R.A. Fountain

The Tony-award winning Red Clay Ramblers in various incarnations have been delighting audiences with their original old-time and Americana music for nearly 35 years. Saturday night’s show features the quartet that has been their core since 1987: Chris Frank on accordion, guitar, tuba, trombone, and ukulele; Clay Buckner on fiddle, harmonica, and mandolin; Jack Herrick on bass, bouzouki, trumpet, and whistles; and Bland Simpson on piano and baritone. Everybody sings.

The Ramblers in various versions are in the midst of a busy summmer: Simpson moves next week to perform a revival of King Mackeral and the Blues Are Running with Coastal Cohorts Jim Wann and Don Dixon. Shows run June 28-30 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. Proceeds benefit the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

In August, Herrick and Frank lead a revival of the Ramblers’ Western/musical Lone Star Love, their take on Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor–that plays Seattle in September before moving straight to Braodway, with a projected opening around Thanksgiving.

Playwright Sam Shepard has called the Ramblers “a great American band,” Johnny Cash after seeing them said they were “great”; the New Yorker called their live performances “remarkable”; and the Nation said they were “brilliant.”

The Red Clay Ramblers June 23 concert begins at 8 p.m. General admission is $10; reserved seats, which are highly recommended, are $12.50.

Tags: acoustic Americana, Concert, eclectic, folk, original