Many bluegrass musicians have come from the bluegrass state of Kentucky, but few have had the long journey that James Reams has taken. He left his home state and journeyed to New York, started the Park Slope Bluegrass Jamboree, started James Reams and the Barnstormers band in 1993, and the band is still playing. The documentary film, Flowing Like A River, gives the viewer a loving look at James’ life and music, and his devotion to the traditional bluegrass and traditional sound he first heard at Kentucky music jams. It’s definitely worth a search on the internet.
Heartfelt vocals and crisp instrumentation are the hallmark of the band’s performances, and James has a voice infused with passion and belief, so that each song stands alone as a story true to life. The thirty songs in the collection span the early days of country music where radio shows filled homes with instrumental blends of banjo, mandolin, and guitar, vocals recounting hard luck stories, lost and found loves, and men making decisions for their lives and families. James is also an accomplished songwriter, and almost half of the songs are his own originals. He once mentioned that old school bluegrass needed the three E’s: edgy sound, emotional content and exciting delivery. This collection easily shows all three in abundance.
Walter Hensley’s banjo playing is featured on a sparkling “Upper Elk Creek,” and a grand presentation of “Orange Blossom Special” is the other instrumental. “Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves,” “Rough Around the Edges,” a Marty Stuart song, and Roy Acuff’s “Freight Train Blues” are from the earlier country music era. Bouncy, honky tonk style is featured in “Born to Roll,” and “One Foot in the Honky Tonk,” while James sings of lost loves in “Livin’ Without You” and “Can’t Win, Can’t Place, Can’t Show.”
James and Tina Aridas collaborated on many poignant songs about family life and hardships in coal mining country. A miner’s routine with “cigarette in the morning, cold coffee at noon, bourbon at quitting time, I’m digging my tomb,” details their hardships. Destruction of the “Hills of My Country,” “River Rising,” and the “Buffalo Creek Flood” tell stories of loss with the underlying endurance and hope that bring a renewal and continuation of living.. Tina was the love of James’ life, and he was able to channel some of his grief into songs with hope for the future. James Reams and the Barnstormers have had some great moments and songs in their over 25 years together, and here’s hoping for more to come!