News
We had a blast on the Bluegrass Cruise! Thanks to Rhonda and Herb for doing such a great job!
The Ramblers are excited for the re-release of Rambler's Call on Rebel Records! Look for it on itunes and wherever bluegrass music is sold on March 30.
Check out our new website, and make sure to sign the Guestbook before you leave. Thanks!
ABOUT
These days you never know if the ringing in Joe Mullins ears is that of his banjo or a phone call requesting a performance by his new band, the Radio Ramblers. Mullins owns and operates Classic Country Radio, a network of three southwest Ohio radio stations featuring Classic Country, Bluegrass and Gospel music. The Radio Ramblers, a collaboration of veteran Bluegrass musicians who have worked with one another during former musical endeavors, formed in 2006 for the primary purpose of performing at Classic Country Radio promotions. However, due to the level of their professionalism and talent, the requests for performances by the Radio Ramblers has grown, thus expanding their schedule to include shows at area music venues, benefits, and festivals. It cannot be left unacknowledged that camaraderie and inherent passion for Bluegrass music within this band has had a profound impact on the quality of their stage presence and ultimate demand. The Radio Ramblers have become a welcomed addition to the southwest Ohio Bluegrass music scene.
Members
Joe Mullins
Joe Mullins is a southwestern Ohio native who has been an active Bluegrass performer and radio broadcaster for 25 years. Mullins' experience spans a lifetime, growing up in the industry with his father, fiddler Paul Moon Mullins, also one of Ohios most notable radio personalities. Joe began working on radio and playing banjo professionally while still in high school in the early 1980s. Joe toured and recorded nationwide as a founding member of the band the Traditional Grass until 1995, when he purchased WBZI Radio in Xenia, Ohio, retiring from full time touring.
Mullins did manage to record and perform on a limited basis with the band Longview, earning Song of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year awards from the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association, see www.ibma.org) in the late 1990s. He was honored by winning an Instrumental Recording of the Year award in 2001 from the IBMA for his banjo work on Rebel Record's Knee Deep in Bluegrass. Mullins was also one of many artists in 2006 sharing Album of the Year honors for Celebration of Life, on Skaggs Family Records.
Mullins now owns an Ohio network of radio stations, adding WKFI in Wilmington and WEDI in Eaton recently. He is on air weekdays from 2 until 5 p.m. featuring Bluegrass and Old-Time Gospel music on all three stations and webcasting at www.myclassiccountry.com . Joe produces many major Bluegrass events throughout Ohio annually and keeps the Radio Ramblers busy at area promotions sponsored by his radio advertisers. He is respected as one the top five-string banjo players nationally, is an occasional banjo workshop presenter, and includes in his repertoire a week of tutoring in Great Britain.
Adam McIntosh
Rooted in Lebanon, Ohio, Adam McIntosh is the guitarist and a vocalist with the Radio Ramblers. Adam started playing Bluegrass at age 11, when he got his first guitar. While still in high school, he entertained the visitors of Kings Island with Bluegrass music. In 1999, Adam assembled a local band, Borderline, where he initially met mandolin player, Mike Terry. The next year, Adam began playing guitar and singing tenor with Rounder recording artists, Dry Branch Fire Squad, where he remained for 3 ½ years. During his tenure, they made television and radio appearances and recorded one album, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Live From New Burryport Firehouse. During this time he also moonlighted, playing mandolin and singing with a band, High Tymes, who later changed their name to Kentucky Ridge, recording one album, Mountain Memories.
It is the honesty of Bluegrass music that he appreciates and is why he has chosen to remain within this genre of music. Adam was recruited as a member of the Radio Ramblers in 2006. I really appreciate the level of professionalism that everyone brings to the band. Everyone is easy to get along with and the musicianship is outstanding. I love audience response. I love singing an a capella song that silences a crowd. I love seeing people wipe a tear after a heartfelt tearjerker. That emotional response is what its all about for me. Among his many musical influences, he credits Keith Whitley, the Lonesome River Band, the Eagles, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Ray Charles, Doyle Lawson and Lou Reid.
When hes not playing Bluegrass, you find him inspecting pre-cast basement walls as the Quality Assurance Supervisor at Tri-State Superior Walls. He and his wife, Jessica, a hairdresser, own Salon 757, in Lebanon. They have a 2-year-old daughter, who Adam claims is smarter than I am. Adam, his father and his sister, Angie, also currently play in a small band. Ive been helped out by a lot of people. Ive been lucky to meet almost all of my musical heroes. Bluegrass is simple, but its not easy.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, and a graduate of Chaminade-Julienne High School, fiddler and vocalist, Evan McGregor, currently calls Brookville, Ohio home. This is where he owns and operates Oscar Fish Studio, a professional music, production and recording company. Evan comes from a family of five, including his father, Larry, mother, Beverly, older brother, Mark, who is a writer at the Dayton Daily News, and a twin sister, Amanda. His family has been very supportive of his musical endeavors.
Evan has been playing Bluegrass since 1994 and been a member of a number of regional and national acts since his career started, including Reynolds and Rife Revue, Jesse Branham-Two Shoes Band, Gods Country, Kentucky Heritage, Simple Tymes, Dayle Eskridge and Changing Times, the Wildwood Valley Boys, the Aubrey Holt Show, Blue Tradition, who won the Kentucky State Bluegrass Band Championship in 2005 and 2006, the Country Sounds Show and the James King Band. Hes placed in several regional fiddle contests since 1994. Although his Bluegrass experience is extensive, his musical talents began forming during 3rd grade piano lessons and classical violin lessons the following year.
Bluegrass became his preference because it is a very organic form of music. Acoustic instruments and vocals are the tools to help us discover the deepest parts of our soul. Basic human emotion, allows me to connect to such a natural genre of music.
He credits numerous musicians as influential, including Mark OConnor, Bobby Hicks, Kenny Baker, Bill Monroe, Ralph and Carter Stanley, Curly Ray Cline, Gerald Evans, Aubrey Holt, Vassar Clements, Bob Wills and Jaco Pastorius.
After hearing Evans work on a 2006 recording by the Wildwood Valley Boys, Joe Mullins contacted Evan regarding a spot in the Radio Ramblers. While playing local venues as a member of different regional bands, Evan had become acquainted with Mike Terry and Adam McIntosh. He enjoys the camaraderie and the always-positive attitude of each bandmember, as well as the opportunity to play good quality music. As a live performer, Evans thankful for the opportunity to go out on the stage and hopefully play something that moves someone spiritually or emotionally. If I can accomplish that for just one person, I have achieved my goal.
Evan McGregor
Mike Terry, mandolin player and vocalist for the Radio Ramblers, was born and raised in Ohio. However, most of his family are Kentucky natives, a place where he hopes to retire. Currently, Mike resides in Jamestown, Ohio, with his wife, Theresa, and daughters, Kayla and Klara. Mike owns MTK Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, servicing residents of Greene County and surrounding regions. Mike is responsible for the sales and repairs of residential heating, cooling and plumbing systems.
He has been involved with Bluegrass music most of his life and performing with local Bluegrass groups for 12 years. Mike has a real passion for the music stating, Bluegrass is in my heart. Ive played rock and country at a younger age, but nothing is like mountain music to me. Bluegrass music is a heart-felt music that I truly enjoy. It will always be a deep part of my roots. After his father taught him a few techniques on guitar, Mike continued to progress, teaching himself by ear. He also taught himself to play bass, banjo and mandolin, influenced by artists such as Earl Scruggs, Doyle Lawson and Keith Whitley.
Mike first met Joe Mullins when they performed together in the gospel group, the Beacons. Performing with the Radio Ramblers is an enjoyable experience for Mike because of the energy on stage, and the good group of Christian guys who are also talented musicians. Mike also enjoys talking to the fans, answering their questions and listening to their feedback.
Mike Terry
Bassist, Tim Kidd, currently keeps time for the Radio Ramblers. Originally from Lebanon, Ohio, he currently resides in Morrow, Ohio with his wife, Tiffany, son, Taylor and daughter, Trinity. Tim is a Corrections Officer at the Warren Correctional Institution, a state prison in Lebanon.
He was raised in a talented family of musicians. His grandfather is a pastor and gifted singer, his mother an outstanding singer and pianist, and his father an exceptional singer as well. She sang in a southern gospel group, The Singing Gospel Jewels, and he in The Gary Cohn Trio. At the age of 7, Tim began playing the drums at his grandfathers church. In 7th grade, Tim began learning the electric bass. A year later, he met a friend who was Bluegrass music enthusiast as well as an electric and upright bass player. Tim appreciated the unique sound of Bluegrass, incorporating it into his life. As his friend embraced the dobro, Tim began honing his skills on the upright bass, influenced by such musicians as Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Ben Isaacs and the Hinsons.
Tim Kidd
At 17, Tim began playing Southern Gospel with The Hoskins Family, where he remained for 1½ years until moving to the Beacons at age 19. It is with the Beacons that Tim first became acquainted with Joe Mullins and Mike Terry, and where he performed for nearly 5 years. Tim has also known Adam McIntosh since his junior year of high school.
The enjoyment for Tim of performing with the Radio Ramblers is rooted in the musicianship and crowd excitement. All of the guys in the band are really talented. We have a lot of fun! I also love the type of crowd that turns out to see us. An enthusiastic crowd is the best part of playing live.
MUSIC
Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers currently have two releases. Their first, Tuned In , was released March 2007.
"...The first song on the CD is "Each Minute Seems A Millions Years," and it sets the tone of solid old-school bluegrass picking and harmony singing, a direct line back to the old homeplace. Other highlights include the McIntosh penned "Brand New Man," the instrumental "Bending The Strings," and the harmony infused gospel a cappella number, "Deeper Than The Stain." --Bluegrass Unlimited
The Ramblers' sophmore album, Ramblers' Call, was released February 2009, and is approaching a re-release through Rebel Records on March 30, 2010.
"...Wynn Stewart's 'Another Day, Another Dollar' gets the album off to a rousing, yet atavistic start, and things just get better from there. The band pulls from sources as diverse as Don Reno ('Charlotte Breakdown') to Primitve Quartet ('No Longer An Orphan') to Tony Senn and Tommy Stough whose 'Boston Jail' is one of the album's most pleasant surprises. The title track comes from Boys From Indiana alumnus Aubrey Holt, whose contributions as a topnotch songwriter remain underappreciated. Joe's former bandmate, Gerald Evans, checks in with two most appropriately retro compositions, 'The Old Rocking Chair' and 'Don't You Want To Go Home.' " --Bluegrass Unlimited
TOUR
Feb 26
Glass City Opry
Maumee Theatre- 601 Conant St, Maumee, OH
Doors open at 6PM and the concert begins at 7PM.
419-250-1096
www.glasscityopry.com
March 6
Mt. Orab, OH 7PM
Western Brown High School- 476 W Main St
937-372-5804
March 26-27
Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival
Roberts Convention Centre- Wilmington, OH
www.somusicfest.com
April 10
Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Ohio Fundraiser
Community Center- Sinking Spring, OH 7PM
www.wcfo.net
May 28
Amvets Post 61 Bluegrass Festival
Amvets Park- Hillsboro, OH
www.highlandcounty.com/modules/freecontent/index.php?id=18
May 29
Ralph Stanley's Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival
Coeburn, VA
www.drralphstanley.com/events/festival/index.shtml
June 3
Appalachian Uprising Bluegrass Festival
Scottown, OH
www.appalachianuprising.net
November 11-13
photos
Sponsors
Links
Classic Country Radio
Oscar Fish Studios
Rebel Records
Ramblers' Facebook Page
Ramblers' Myspace Page
NS Design
GHS Strings
CityFolk
Clinton County, Ohio
Renfro Valley
CONTACT
sign our guestbook
Nashville Public Radio
Bluegrass Radio Network
Bluegrass for Breakfast
WMMT Whitesburg, KY
KASU Jonesboro, Arkansas
