Originally from southeastern Kentucky, now living in NYC, James Reams plays bluegrass music with an edgy and bluesy sound, yet keeping well within the traditional realm. James Reams & The Barnstormers offers exciting, soulful performances with powerful three-part harmonies. Stephanie Ledgin writes in her book, Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass (Praeger Publishers, 2004): “James Reams & The Barnstormers rely on early country material and originals written in authentic style. The results are a virtual history of the music and its roots, played in a clean, heartfelt manner that is somewhere between Monroe’s and the Stanleys’.”

James’ powerful singing, guitar-playing and songwriting have caught the attention of reviewers and DJs. Singing: Bill Monroe biographer Richard D. Smith in Bluegrass Unlimited: “There are few vocalists as natural as Reams. He doesn’t have to try to sound down-home, he’s there at each turn in the song.” Stephanie Ledgin in Sing Out: “Reams’ commanding voice takes the listener all the way back to Kentucky, with an unaffected Monroe-style quality that bends to capture the mood of each selection.” Guitar playing: Flatpicking Guitar magazine profiled James in its “Masters of Rhythm Guitar” series of articles. Songwriting: Country Standard Time: “The originals, like ‘Buffalo Creek Flood’ and ‘The Cincinnati Southern,’ are story-telling songs in the classic country mold.” Sing Out: “The authentic nature of both words and melody nail the style.”

The band’s second CD – Troubled Times – was released in 2005. Bluegrass Unlimited called it “delightfully unadorned 1950s-style bluegrass that draws heavily on, yet doesn’t mimic, the best-loved bands of that era.” Sing Out magazine said it was “uncompromising, hard-core bluegrass.” No Depression wrote, “The Barn-stormers deliver an edge that’s missing from a lot of bluegrass being made today.” The CD contains 14 tracks, including three new original songs plus two new banjo instrumentals. Included in the package is a bonus, double-feature DVD. The first of the two films is Rollin’ On, which takes the viewer on a ride on the Redbird Express (the band’s red van, named after a retired NYC subway line) – from NYC to a bluegrass festival in a small town, to a live radio show, to a square dance in Brooklyn, to a church on Sunday morning. This 80-minute feature puts to rest the oft-repeated misconception that old-school bluegrass music can’t possibly be made in New York City. The second DVD feature included in the package, Pioneers of Bluegrass Music, is a 20-minute preview of a feature-length documentary of the same name, still in production, in which members of the first generation of bluegrass talk frankly about the early days of the music and life on the road, in inter-views conducted at the opening of the International Bluegrass Music Museum, backstage at festivals and on the buses of these pioneers.

Barnstormin’, the band’s debut CD, was released in 2001. Dirty Linen wrote that Barnstormin’ is “sure to de-light any bluegrass fan looking for something out of the mainstream.” Country Standard Time wrote, “This isn’t citified, ersatz bluegrass, it’s the real stuff...the music features elements reminiscent of the sophisticated stylings of fellow Kentuckian Bill Monroe mixed with the old time, deep-hollow sound of the Stanley Broth-ers…This is hard-core bluegrass from down home.” It was picked by WKCR as one of the top 12 of 2001.

In addition, James and several members of the Barnstormers have recorded two critically acclaimed albums with banjo-legend Walter Hensley (known as the “Banjo Baron of Baltimore”). Their first recording, the self-titled James Reams, Walter Hensley and the Barons of Bluegrass, was released in 2003. This is the first recording by Walter in nearly 30 years, and his driving, inventive banjo playing is joined by James’ hard-charging rhythm guitar and soulful vocals. That album was nominated by the IBMA as a 2003 Recorded Event of the Year and named by WKCR as one of the top 12 bluegrass CDs of 2003. Wild Card, the second James/Walter collaboration, was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. Bluegrass Now wrote: “Wild Card is another in a line of superior bluegrass recordings from James Reams and crew. Wild Card should be warmly received by the ever-growing legions who have come to appreciate their music.”

James Reams has played old-time and bluegrass music since he was a child. There were traditional singers on both sides of his family. He was raised in London, Kentucky, but he moved with his family to Freedom, Wisconsin, when he was a teenager. He moved to NYC in the 1980s. James also has a critically acclaimed old-time CD, The Mysterious Redbirds 1992-1998, which he recorded with New Lost City Ramblers founding member Tom Paley and old-time fiddler Bill Christophersen. James’ earlier solo albums, Kentucky Songbird and The Blackest Crow, also received excellent reviews.

The Barnstormers: Mark Farrell has been playing bluegrass and old-time music for many years, recording with Major Contay & The Canebrake Rattlers, a well-respected old-time string band. He joined the Barnstormers in 1998 and is a triple-threat, contributing great mountain-style fiddling, mandolin and harmony vocals. Doug Nicolaisen has been playing banjo with bluegrass bands in the NY tri-state area for the past 18 years. His music incorporates many of the best elements of all the major banjo players yet his style reflects an individuality of its own and adds to the hard-driving energy of the band. Nick Sullivan has been playing bass since he was a tot. In the northern woods of Wisconsin he started playing 1950s rock and roll when he was 12 and has covered lots of musical terrain since that time, from ragtime jazz and West African traditional music to early country music and bluegrass. He adds rock-solid bass and great singing to the Barnstormers’ sound.
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Originally from southeastern Kentucky, now living in NYC, James Reams plays bluegrass music with an edgy and bluesy sound, yet keeping well within the traditional realm. James Reams & The Barnstormers offers exciting, soulful performances with powerful three-part harmonies. Stephanie Ledgin writes in her book, Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass (Praeger Publishers, 2004): “James Reams & The Barnstormers rely on early country material and originals written in authentic style. The results are... (read more)