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The Ragpicker String Band

by Ragpicker String Band

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Actual compact disc packaged in 6-panel digipak, shipped with care to anywhere in the world.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Ragpicker String Band via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Includes PDF with full album artwork and liner notes.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Actual compact disc packaged in 6-panel digipak, shipped with care to anywhere in the world. Autographed by Rich, Mary, and Martin!

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Ragpicker String Band via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $20 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
Minor Blues 03:43
3.
Google Blues 05:38
Stepped up to the bar next to a lady she looked so fine I asked her name, she proceeded to ask mine I was feeling lucky so I ordered a tonic and gin She pulled out her I phone and started typing something in Chorus: She googled me, she googled me I thought I got lucky at last but she pulled up my shady past she googled me She pulled up a web site, homepage of the Texas DMV She found I had three DUIs and a reckless in 2003 I saw her finger sliding up to a hotspot on the page She told me that my license was suspended indefinitely Chorus She pulled up another web site, the homepage of the CDC She located a case file and an ugly picture of me She took a big step sideways, I said honey what could the matter be? She found out that I had Herpes, A, B, C and D Chorus My secrets were out now on a little LCD screen I said, "Honey it don't look good, but it ain't as bad as it seems. I've looking for someone to hold for what's left of the rest of my life." Then she pulled up the Harris County courthouse web page And found out I had a wife Chorus Friends, I got shot down and I know the reason why It's hard to know the truth anymore and it's impossible to lie My advice to all you losers with questionable former lives Don't pick up a woman in a bar that offers free wifi She's gonna google you, She's gonna google you You thought you got lucky at last But she pulled up your shady past She'll google you
4.
Blue Monk 03:06
5.
6.
Motel Towel 03:57
7.
Hey hey baby where you been / when you shoulda been here with me There's a cold cold seat at the head of the table where my coulda shoulda used to be Hey hey, baby where you been / when you should of been home tonight there's a cold, cold plate of meat and potatoes what happened to your appetite There's ice and snow a comin' down -- bound to be much colder that ain't nothin compared to your cold shoulder Hey hey baby where you been when you should've been here with me there's no fire to keep me warm and the wood pile's about to freeze Hey hey I'm blue and all alone since my honey baby took to roam I'm a loco fool out on a limb still thinking that you might come home Hey hey howlin' at the moon haven't seen the sun in days Love is blind and I lose my mind when you treat me this-a way
8.
Black Mattie 04:27
9.
10.
By Your Side 04:17
You can count, on me baby, to be by your side Count, on me baby, to be by your side When blue skies turn to gray, And clouds just won't go away You can count, on me baby, to be by your side There are days, when the dollar, is wearing thin And the gimmes are more than the money coming in Days we ain't got a nickel And the cards won't give us a win You can count, on me baby, to be by your side Your friends, work hard just to keep on keepin' on They got problems, they don't mean you, mean you no wrong No time for conversation Feels like their long gone You can count, on me baby, to be by your side
11.
12.
13.
Don't tell my papa, don't tell my mama what I do (2X) Bring rage to the man, break my mother's heart in two. Don't know the banker, but I do know the banker's son (2X) The boy is a junkie, and I help him get it done. I make lots of money, more than I thought I ever would (2X) Sweet dreams to lost souls, don't do them a damn bit of good. I crossed the line, so many years ago (2X) Made my bed and I'll reap just what I sow. Too close for comfort, too hot, it's time for me to go (2X) Tell mama I love her, but I can't go home no more
14.

about

Mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, Guitarist Mary Flower and multi-instrumentalist Martin Grosswendt have earned steady streams of praise for their outstanding string skills. Combined, these three have earned nine Blues Music Award nominations and enjoyed rave press reviews and top festival slots all over the world. And they do strum, pick and bow up a storm on their debut album together as the Ragpicker String Band — but it's their tight trio harmonies that especially dazzle. The acoustic dream team summons the spirits of everyone from the Mississippi Sheiks and Blind Boy Fuller to Jim Kweskin and R. Crumb as their voices and fingers fly through the mists back to the golden prewar age of folk-blues.

Classics by the likes of the Mississippi Sheiks, Sleepy John Estes and Blind Willie Johnson — combined with new originals by Flower and DelGrosso — allow this virtuosically fearsome threesome to leaven their serious instrumental and vocal chops with social satire and mischievous humor. Just as Kweskin and Crumb filtered the songs and sounds of their prewar folk-blues heroes through their own modern sensibilities and considerable personalities, so do the Ragpicker String Band. Jump from a fabulously fretted, sublimely sung trip to the past like Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning to a laughing lament of modern times like Google Blues and you'll find out what an uncommonly fine stew of traditional and contemporary ingredients they've cooked up. They even season it with a delectable dose of jazz via a conspicuously piano-less romp through Thelonious Monk's standard Blue Monk.

Mark Hoffman, the co-author of Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf, called DelGrosso's mandolin mastery "the best since Yank," and Yank Rachell devotees everywhere agree. Add what Mary — a two-time finalist at the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship — and Martin ("One of the best fingerpickers I ever heard play" —David Bromberg) bring to the table and you know you're in for a string exhibition of the highest order. Add to that their irresistible harmonies and irrepressible humor and you’ve got a "side project" worthy of the front-and-center spotlight.

credits

released August 14, 2015

The Ragpicker String Band are:

Rich DelGrosso
lead and harmony vocals, mandolin and resonator mandolin, mandola, dobro

Mary Flower
lead and harmony vocals, fingerpicked and lap slide guitar

Martin Grosswendt
lead and harmony vocals, fingerpicked and bottleneck slide guitar, fiddle, mandolin


Produced by Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff
Recorded and mixed March 2015 by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording, Austin
Mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Digital Audio, Austin

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Ragpicker String Band Houston, Texas

Mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, Guitarist Mary Flower and multi-instrumentalist Martin Grosswendt have earned streams of praise for their string skills. Combined, they've scored 9 Blues Music Award nominations as well as rave reviews and top festival slots worldwide. They strum, pick and bow up a storm together as the Ragpicker String Band — but it's their tight trio harmonies that especially dazzle. ... more

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