This page will redirect you to our new web site. Please change your bookmarks.
Please visit our new site: http://sites.google.com/site/redmountainstringband/
This one is out of date but we haven't figured out how to get the new one to show up in a Google search yet.
|
Red Mountain Red Mountain plays good-time, old-time string band music. At festivals and clubs you'll hear them play high-energy dance tunes and old-timey blues, and sing songs from the earliest days of country music, when folks like the Carter Family and the Delmore Brothers were the stars. You're likely to hear a lot of impromptu humor as well. Red Mountain's expertise as a dance band has garnered them invitations to dance festivals across the country. At dances they dip into their large repertoire of powerful contra dance medleys and driving square dance tunes. They learned many of their tunes from older fiddlers in Alabama and Tennessee, and they play in a style that reflects the region in which they live. Folks often describe Red Mountain as a wall of sound. Components of this sound are fiddle by Jim Cauthen, guitar by Joyce Cauthen, mandolin by Phil Foster, harmonica and banjo uke by Jamie Finley, autoharp by Bill Martin and bass by Nancy Jackson. Vocalist Carole Griffin sometimes joins them for concerts and festivals.
|
|
Recordings by the Band formerly known as Red Mountain White Trash* (*It was a joke, referring to the fact that the band was founded when we all lived near each other on Red Mountain which Wikipedia describes as "one of Birmingham's most prominent upscale neighborhoods. It is home to the majority of the multi-million dollar residences and estates that are located within the city proper. ")You can download RMWT CDs at the following links: Sweet Bama
|
|
The Red Mountain White Trash’s first CD, Fire in the Dumpster (Whoop it Up Records #101), was released in 1995. Indian Ate a Woodchuck/Chuck-a-luck, Dixie Hoedown, . Muddy Creek/Dead Slave, Sequatchie Valley, Green Valley Waltz, Coon Dog/Wes Muir’s Tune, Highlander’s Farewell/Haning’s Farewell, Rose of Alabama, Sam Hill/Turkey Foot, Coon on a Rail/Devil on the Stump, Meg Gray/Cattle in the Cane, Flower from the Fields of Alabama, Back to Chattanooga/Cincinnati Rag, Roaring River, Elzic’s Farewell/Monroe’s Farewell to Long Hollow/Jeff Davis, Wild Bill Jones, Hollow Poplar/Pamela’s Hornpipe, Hi De Ho, Baby Mine, Fire in the Dumpster To hear selections from this CD courtesy of CD Baby, click here. |
 |
Their second CD, Chickens
Don’t Roost Too High (Whoop it Up Records #102), was rated the best old-time string band
recording of 1999 by County Sales.
Step around, Johnny; Monday Morning Blues, Gideon/Echoes of
the Ozarks, Dixie Darling, Natchez Under the Hill, Don’t You Remember
the Time?, Bluegrass Meadows/Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom, The Little
Princess Footsteps/Sarah Armstrong To hear selections from this CD courtesy of CD Baby, click here. |
 |
Sweet Bama (Whoop it Up Records #103) was rated #2 old-time recording for 2002 by County Sales. (#1 was Doc Watson's "Legacy.") Coal Valley, Stove Pipe Blues, Girls Don’t Worry My Mind, Old Stage Coach:/Yearlings in the Canebrake, Boat’s Up the River, Grub Springs, Keno, The Rent Man, Ora Lee/Garfield March, Sweet Bama, Mourning Blues, Lost Child, Walk Right in Belmont, Shoo! Fly, Bamalong Blues (3:44), Everis Campbell’s Tune, You’ve Got to Righten That Wrong, Skippin’ Cat/Fat Meat and Dumplings, Mean Old Birmingham Blues, Baby Ben, Oh Death, Flower’s Mill/Jimmy in the Swamp, Missouri Waltz To hear selections from this CD courtesy of CD Baby, click here.. |
|
All three CDs are reviewed in the All Music Guide. To order:
Send $15 for one or $25 for two CDs or $40 for three, check payable to
Red Mountain, to 2169
Shadybrook Lane, Birmingham, AL 35226. We'll pay the postage. Or you
can buy them on-line from What folks are saying about Red Mountain: "Totally groove-enhancing, dance-entrancing music. Each tune is lively, vibrant, and played with such spirit and exuberance, it’s a thrill just to sense their energy and enthusiasm. Definitely worth seeking out. "-DIRTY LINEN, magazine CD Review of Fire in the Dumpster, Oct/Nov ’96 "This band is southern old-time with a special wild flare. They are considered Alabama’s premier old-time band and have performed at the Atlanta dance weekend and throughout the east. Dancers enjoy their driving tunes, solid rhythms, and variety of tunes. Jamie Finley on harmonica adds a wailing bluesy sound which adds twist and color to old-time tradition."--From flyer for Endless Summer Dance Weekend, Tallahassee, FL "They have a firm, stately ensemble sound that is creative yet works entirely within a traditional framework: in places they are reminiscent of a couple of the fine early Arkansas string bands, with a richly textured sound that includes two fiddles, harp, guitar, mandolin, autoharp and a very well played acoustic bass.—Review of Chickens Don’t Roost Too High in County Sales Newsletter, Jan.-Feb. 1999 "The group sprang up organically at neighborhood get-togethers, much like the Squirrel Nut Zippers, then went on to release an album called Fire in the Dumpster. Red Mountain White Trash has a playful sense of humor, lots of talent and a brand-new CD on its resume.—Mary Colurso, The Birmingham News, Dec. 1999. "They put a grin on your face, even when you’re not dancing, so I can only imagine the beaming faces at one of their dances." –Kerry Blech, Victory Music Review, January 1999. "I’m going to start this review in top gear by saying that I haven’t been so excited by a new release by living musicians since…a friend asked me to listen to this new record by a group called The Highwoods String Band. It’s sorta deju vu, all over again…This is a big, powerful group that puts out a wonderful, somewhat unconventional sound that has been described as a "wall of sound." The analogy falls short; this music is more than a two-dimensional wall. It is a moving, rocking, sometimes undulating, sometimes sentimental sound that rarely falls short of excellent.""-Review of Chickens Don'’ Roost Too High by Bob Woodcock in The Old-Time Herald, Summer 1999. "Red Mountain White Trash is an old-time string band from Alabama. They put on a show that layers traditional fiddle tune and old time country and blues in the best tradition of The Skillet Lickers and The Highwoods String band. Add to that a masters course in the fiddlers and their tunes of Alabama, excellent musicianship and vocal harmonies and you are beginning to get the picture. These folks are tight. We saw them in concert and later had the great pleasure of meeting them and picking a bit after the show. Wonderful folks, wonderful music." — Review of Folklore Society of Greater Washington, DC, concert, posted by Chance Shiver at Mudcat.com "If the band had its tongue planted firmly in its cheek over the name, it had its feet planted firmly in the 1920s and ’30s, when some wild and wooly music indeed was being made in Alabama and the rural South. The Trash’s songbag is filled with old-time ballads about God and the Devil, drinking songs, sinfully joyous fiddle music, and mean white blues. They’ve played all over the country, earning accolades everywhere for fire and flare. Maybe that’s what had some of the audience whooping."--Ben Windham, Tuscaloosa News review of Sweet Bama and performance at City Stages. (To read rest of review, click here) "This crazy band has brought great pleasure to a wee house in Scotland.
You folks have conveyed the essence
of Alabama to a Scotsman. I love 'Sweet Bama' and play it
endlessly."--E-mail from Mike (The Crazy Bogman) aka Michael Murphy "My philosophy is that the caller can act as a brake or a lubricant to the dancers enjoyment, but all locomotion is provided by the band. We can only drive as hard or energetically as the band has steam to go. And with the Trash, it's a 6 engine train, full steam ahead from the first dance -better watch those curves! I appreciate your drive, your readiness, and your big smiles!" --Seth Tepfer, Atlanta dance caller
We just received the three cd's today and boy was it
worth it. I have been playing them in the office and got a bit of a dance
going. They are just wonderful examples of "Old-Time String Band"
music. Our show "Southern Style" will be playing them to a very
large appreciative Melbourne audience over the coming weeks. We here are
thrilled to say a big Aussie welcome to "The Red Mountain White
Trash" and "Flying Jenny."
"Hey Ya'll: This morning on my way to work I popped in the Fire in the Dumpster CD and found myself smiling all 20 miles!! Oh to be visiting with all of you all on this chilly morning!! What fun!! My smile has not stopped--as my head/heart have been remembering lovely times spent together over the years!! Thank you for putting these fun memories into music!!" Donna Andrews, dancer and old-time musician Here are a few places Red Mountain has performed: Concerts & Festivals Merle Watson Festival 2001; Cultural Center Theater, Charleston, WV; Folklore Society of Greater Washington, D.C.; City Stages Festival, Birmingham, AL; Augusta Heritage Center Performing Arts Center, Elkins, WV; Jubilee Community Arts at Laurel Theater, Knoxville, TN; New Mexico Friends of Folk Music and Dance, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM; Live on Radio Station KUT, Austin, TX; Cactus Cafe, U of Texas Campus; Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Northport, AL; Birmingham Jam Music Festival; Williams Station Days in Atmore, AL; Five Points Music Hall, Birmingham, AL; Baylee's, Blacksburg, VA; Pepper Place Farmers' Market; Black Mt. Festival; Savannah Folklore Society, Mountain Laurel Autoharp Festival, PA; Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA; City College of San Francisco; The Mainstay, Rock Hall, Maryland; Live Oak Music Festival in Santa Ynez Mountains, CA; Antigua, Guatemala for the Partners of the Americas, Riverfolk Festival, Manchester, MI; Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-time Music Festival, Magic City Arts Connection, Birmingham; Bear on the Square, Dahlonega, GA. Dances Augusta Heritage Center Dance Week, Elkins, WV; Florida Rhapsody Dance Week in De Leon Springs, FL; Merle Watson Festival 2001; Fiddlehead Spring Dance Weekend in Black Mt., NC; Chattahoochee Country Dance Society Dance Weekend, Atlanta, GA; Birmigham Country Dance Society's Old-Time Music and Dance Weekend, Mentone, AL; Fiddlehead Spring Dance Weekend in Black Mt., NC; Merle Watson Festival 2001; Nashville Country Dance Weekend; Black Mt. Festival; Endless Summer Dance Weekend in Tallahassee, FL; Palmetto Bug Stomp Dance Weekend in Charleston, SC; Fire Ant Frolic, Austin, TX.; Appalachian String Band Contest Saturday Night Dance in Clifftop, WV; Glen Echo Park Ballroom, D.C.; City Stages Festival, Birmingham, AL; Savannah Folklore Society; New Mexico Friends of Folk Music and Dance, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM; Glenside Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, PA; The Grange, Greensboro, NC; Kanawha Valley Footmad dance, Charleston, WV, Work/Play, Birmingham (where photo below was taken), Alta Sierra Labor Day Dance Weekend, CA; San Francisco Saturday night dance; Sierra Madre, CA, Saturday Night Dance, Santa Barbara Sunday Night Dance; AACTMAD, Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago Barn Dance, Madison, WI, Tuesday Night Dance.
Red Mountain at Gordon County String Band Festival, May 5, 2007 March 22: Dance at Sautee Nacoochee Center in Georgia April 12: Birmingham Public Library, morning performances at The Big Read event celebrating "To Kill a Mockingbird." Call (205) 226-3600 for info. April 19: Sucarnochee Folklife Festival, Livingston, AL, performances at 11 and 2 p.m., 205-652-3752 Friday April 25: Appearances in Calhoun, GA schools in connection with Gordon County String Band Festival. Saturday, April 26, 2008: Gordon County String Band Festival in Calhoun, GA. (706-337-5507) Friday, October 17, 2008: Concert at Local Color in Springville, AL. Come for dinner and enjoy two sets by RMWT starting at 7:30. Cover charge: $5. October 24-26, 2008: Dance Weekend at John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown. October 31-November 2, 2008: Solefest, a dance weekend in Springfield, Mo. with Frederick Park, caller. Red Mountain
|
|
Red Mountain took the Bronze at the Mentona 500 (August 05) but had to concede the trophy after judges viewed tapes of the race and determined that they had not actually run the course. |