The Red Clay Ramblers was founded in Chapel Hill around 1973 by Tommy Thompson, Jim Watson and Bill Hicks. They were a traditional string band and played tunes learned from old time players they’d met in the mountains. Jack Herrick and Bland Simpson joined around 1987 and the band started branching out and doing formal concerts, musical theater and even a ballet.
“This was never a band that intended to go out and tour 300 dates a year or anything like that,” said Bland Simpson in an interview with IndyWeek. “The special projects have helped keep it going.”
The band has played around the world with performances in rock clubs, prestigious concert halls, on and off Broadway and on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion.
“It’s just the way it’s fallen out with this particular band,” said Simpson in the same interview. “We have a great deal of versatility in the variety of types of music that we’ve played, and that we’ve written. I think we’ve had a very strong interest in the variety of venues, the variety of genres and styles and presentations.”
This anniversary show is a special one as the band has largely retired from touring and performing.
This concert is part of the 2024 Down Home Series. There’s information about the full series here.
Don’t forget, if you call PineCone at 919-664-8333 and purchase your tickets over the phone you will avoid all ticketmaster fees.
