The Richmond Ramblers Bluegrass Band is a group of musicians hailing from the village of Richmond.
In 2009, a poster at the local grocery store entitled, “Looking for Bluegrass Pickers”, resulted in the birth of the band (jamming in Dale’s kitchen twice a week). Although some of the pickers have changed over the years the band still gets together regularly and you’ll find them performing at local events, open mics and retirements homes in the area. They play predominantly bluegrass music with a mix of classic country and recently have introduced some new originals.
Now I am not normally a country music kind of guy, but I do have a soft spot for Bluegrass. You can probably blame it on the Beverley Hillbillies, whose theme tune was a masterpiece story song by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (sounds like a country law firm!).
For me the key element in there is the banjo, with its distinctive presence, mostly in the background as an element of percussive accompaniment, but occasionally coming to the front for some dazzling three-finger pickin’ action. I think JS Bach had a banjo, because his famous chorale piece ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s desiring’ is a perfect fit for a 5-string banjo. The tune is treated to a series of continuous 3-note decorations that become a melody in their own right.
So come along this Friday, and imagine you are hearing ‘The Bach Boys Leipzig Country Band’ as our friends from Richmond treat us to their spectacular repertoire. Please note – there will already be six musicians on the stage, so space will be at a premium – come early!
To find out more about the Richmond Ramblers, check out www.gaiajava.ca or go to their own website at: www. richmondramblersbluegrassband.weebly.com or their Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/ RichmondRamblersBluegrassBand
The music nights start at 7pm, and as usual there is no charge, but we do have a ‘jar’ for donations to the musicians, and we hope that you will buy a drink or two (and maybe something tasty to eat!
The Richmond Ramblers Bluegrass Band play at Gaia Java on Stittsville Main Street on Friday, September 18 at 7:00pm.