The Dry Branch Fire Squad is an American traditional-style bluegrass band from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, which is fronted by Ron Thomason. The band is known for its showy performances and for Thomason's humorous interludes. The Dry Branch Fire Squad is the host band of

Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival held in mid-July in Oak Hill, Greene County, New York. The festival features a variety of acoustic music including traditional and contemporary bluegrass, jam bands, old-time, swing and Ca ...

, formerly called the Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival. The band also hosts the High Mountain Hay Fever festival in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

as a fundraiser for a local medical clinic.

History

Dry Branch Fire Squad was founded by Thomason, a former member of the

Clinch Mountain Boys Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of ...

, in October 1976."Ron Thomason – Told You That To Tell You This"
''Bluegrass Unlimited'', August 1st, 2011 By Chris Stuart It is named for a

small town "Small Town" is a 1985 song written by John Mellencamp and released on his 1985 album ''Scarecrow''. The song reached #6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and #13 Adult Contemporary. Content Mellencamp wrote the song about his experiences ...

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Vir ...

where Thomason was born. The band has gone through many lineup changes; Thomason has been the one constant, serving as the band's MC, lead singer, and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

player. He also plays

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

on occasion, and during performances often demonstrates hambone technique which he learned as a child. In 1978 the band released a self-titled debut album, and in 1979 they performed at Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival. In 1981 the Dry Branch Fire Squad signed with Rounder Records, and released the first of many recordings with that label. In 1984 the band began hosting the newly organized Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival. At one time banjoist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

and singer Suzanne Thomas performed and recorded with the band. The band has performed at the annual

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco ven ...

festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco every year since 2003. Long-time members Brian Aldridge and Dan Russell retired at the end of 2015. Former member, Adam McIntosh, rejoined the band playing guitar and mandolin and assuming tenor singing duties.

Jeff Byrd Jeffrey Alan Byrd (born November 11, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher in 1977 for the Toronto Blue Jays. Career Texas Rangers Byrd was drafted out of El Capitan High School (California), El Capitan High School in Lakeside, Califo ...

also joined replacing Dan Russell on bass. In 2016 band is composed of Adam McIntosh (guitar, mandolin), Tom Boyd (banjo,

resophonic guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator gu ...

(bass), and Ron Thomason (mandolin, banjo, guitar). In 2017 a performance by the band was filmed for inclusion in the film ''Bluegrass Court Jester''."Bluegrass Court Jester gets his due in upcoming film"
''Bluegrass Today'', on April 5, 2017 by John Lawless. The Dry Branch Fire Squad is a regular at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, and has been the opening act for the Sunday morning gospel set for every single year, twice per summer, since the festival began, totaling 40 years and 80 festivals. After a break for COVID year, Dry Branch Fire Squad is slated to resume their record for the 81st festival in May of 2021.

Selected recordings

* '' The Dry Branch Fire Squad'' - 1978 * '' On Tour - Live at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival'' - 1979 * '' Born to Be Lonesome'' - 1981 * '' Antiques and Inventions'' - 1981 * '' Fannin' the Flames'' - 1982 * '' Good Neighbors and Friends'' - 1985 * ''

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

'' - 1986 * ''

Tried and True ''Tried and True'' is the fifth studio album by Clay Aiken, released on June 1, 2010. This album is Aiken's first on the Decca label. The deluxe edition includes two additional tracks plus a second disk with behind the scenes video and a live per ...

'' - 1987 * '' Fertile Ground'' - 1989 * '' Long Journey'' - 1991 * ''

Just for the Record Just for the Record may refer to: * "Just for the Record" (''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)''), a 1969 episode of the British television series * ''Just for the Record'' (Barbara Mandrell album), 1979 * ''Just for the Record'' (Ray Stevens albu ...

'' - 1993 * '' Live! at Last'' - 1996 * '' Memories That Bless and Burn'' - 1999 * '' Hand-Hewn'' - 2001 * '' Live at the Newburyport Firehouse'' - 2005 * '' Thirtieth Anniversary Special'' - 2007 * '' Echoes of the Mountains'' - 2009 * ''The Gospel Way'' - 2014 * ''Don't Forget This Song'' - 2014

References

External links

Dry Branch Fire Squad homepage

Grey Fox Music Festival

Dry Branch Fire Squad at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival
{{Authority control American bluegrass music groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups from Virginia