Dry Branch Fire Squad
Be there Thursday afternoon as Dry Branch Fire Squad — host band of Grey Fox for over 25 years — as they welcome thousands of bluegrass enthusiasts to the Rothvoss Farm, home of the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, as well as their hair-raising Sunday morning gospel set, and farewell set Sunday afternoon as they bid goodbye and safe travels to devoted fans.
“There is no band in bluegrass or country music today that captures the soul of American music better than the Fire Squad.” Keith Lawrence, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
In thirty years of music making, Rounder recording artists Dry Branch Fire Squad have become an institution in American acoustic music. Inspired by a fierce and uncompromising loyalty to the most traditional aspects of bluegrass, old time and southern gospel music, Dry Branch Fire Squad is fueled by the musical vision and cultural commentary of Ron Thomason. Unlike most bluegrass groups, Dry Branch Fire Squad sells neither itself, its members, nor even particular bluegrass songs. What it markets are the emotions which stimulated the creation of bluegrass and mountain music as well as a taste of the culture in which this music evolved.
A native of southwest Virginia, Thomason founded the Dry Branch Fire Squad in 1976. To date, the band has recorded over twenty projects and performed at the most prestigious acoustic music venues and festivals in North America. Most bluegrass observers agree that Dry Branch's current line-up is one of its strongest ever: in addition to Ron Thomason on mandolin, guitar and lead vocals; other group members are Brian Aldridge on guitar, mandolin and harmony vocals; Tom Boyd on banjo, Dobro and harmony vocals; and Danny Russell on bass and harmony vocals.
Dry Branch Fire Squad has performed numerous times for the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the Smithsonian Institution and has toured internationally for the U. S. Information Agency. The band’s all-gospel release Golgotha was chosen by the Library of Congress for its Select List of significant recordings of American music. This year, Dry Branch Fire Squad will once again tour from coast to coast, appearing at some of the most prestigious music events in North America including their 42nd consecutive appearance at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival in Gettysburg, PA; the Strawberry Park Festival in Preston, CT; and the Festival of the Bluegrass in Lexington, KY. The group will also host the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (formerly the Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival), the largest bluegrass festival in the Northeast as well as the High Mountain Hay Fever Festival in Westcliffe, CO, (one of the fastest growing all-acoustic festivals in the U.S.).
“For more than 25 years Dry Branch Fire Squad has been one of bluegrass music's most popular bands, renowned for its spry mix of front-porch standards, modern ballads, and the old-time sounds from which bluegrass first sprang. The (quartet) is positively adored for its droll, scampy stage shows, fueled by Ron Thomason's cornpone-and-hard-cider wit. On their irresistible new Rounder concert CD, Live at the Newburyport Firehouse...his laconic monologues unfurl like long, laze serpents: When they strike, it's with such suddenness and accuracy that they almost leave you too breathless to laugh. Almost.” Scott Alarik, Boston Globe
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