{{short description|American singer-songwriter}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Bo Ramsey | image =Boramsey072018.jpg | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Robert Franklin Ramsey | alias = | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB --> | birth_place = Burlington, Iowa, United States | origin = | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date 1st) --> | death_place = | genre = Folk<br />Rock<br />Blues | occupation = | instrument = Guitar | years_active = 1973–present | label = 3rd Street<br />Lustre | website = {{URL|www.boramsey.com}} }} '''Bo Ramsey''' (born '''Robert Franklin Ramsey''' in 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording producer.
==Career== He made his debut in Williamsburg, Iowa in 1973, fronted the Mother Blues Band, and rose to prominence as a soloist when he opened for Lucinda Williams on her 1994 tour.<ref name="premierguitar1">{{cite web|author=Nick Stika |url=http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Bo_Ramsey_Bo_Knows_Tone |title=Bo Ramsey: Bo Knows Tone |website=Premierguitar.com |date=2009-11-18 |accessdate=2017-02-28}}</ref> He has produced or played guitar on several of her albums, including ''Essence'', which was nominated for a Grammy Award, and appeared in her band in performances on ''The Late Show'' With David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night With Conan O’Brien<ref name="premierguitar1"/> and in Wim Wenders’ "Soul Of A Man" segment for the Blues series of Martin Scorsese.<ref name="autogenerated2006">{{cite web|url=http://cibs.org/events-programs/iowa-blues-hall-of-fame/bo-ramsey/ |title=Bo Ramsey - Central Iowa Blues Society |website=Cibs.org |date= |accessdate=2017-02-28}}</ref>
He has also produced recordings for Joan Baez, David Zollo, Pieta Brown, Iris DeMent, Ani DiFranco, and Kevin Gordon, with whom he co-fronted a band, and worked as a guitarist with the above and with Elvis Costello. He has produced and worked extensively with Greg Brown, including an appearance in 1999 on ''A Prairie Home Companion'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/19990515/19990515_mu.shtml |title=APHC: Music List |website=Prairiehome.publicradio.org |date= |accessdate=2017-02-28}}</ref> and has been inducted to the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iowarocknroll.com/irrma-hall-of-fame |title=Iowa Rock n Roll Music Association - IRRMA Hall of Fame |website=Iowarocknroll.com |date= |accessdate=2017-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202132450/https://www.iowarocknroll.com/irrma-hall-of-fame/ |archive-date=2017-02-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Iowa Blues Hall of Fame.<ref name="autogenerated2006"/>
==Personal life== Ramsey's son Benson is also a folk musician, known for performing in duo The Pines.<ref name="MPR20090811">{{cite web |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/08/11/thepines |title=The Pines hone a Midwestern sound |last=Roberts |first=Chris |date=August 11, 2009 |website=MPR News |publisher= |access-date=2025-10-08}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Solo albums=== * 1982: ''Brand New Love'' (3rd Street) * 1983: ''Feelin's Gettin' Stronger'' (3rd Street) with the Sliders * 1986: ''Northwind'' (3rd Street) * 1988: ''Either Way'' (3rd Street) * 1991: ''Down To Bastrop'' (Shed) * 1995: ''Bo Ramsey And The Backsliders'' (DixieFrog) * 1997: ''In The Weeds'' (Trailer) * 2007: ''Stranger Blues'' (Bo Ramsey Records / Continental Song City) * 2008: ''Fragile'' (Bo Ramsey Records / Continental Song City) * 2016: ''Wildwood Calling'' (Lustre)
===With Greg Brown (as producer)=== * 1989: ''One Big Town'' (Red House) * 1990: ''Down in There'' (Red House) * 1992: ''Dream Café'' (Red House) * 1994: ''The Poet Game'' (Red House) * 1996: ''Further In'' (Red House) * 1997: ''Slant 6 Mind'' (Red House) * 2003: ''If I Had Known: Essential Recordings, 1980-96'' (Red House) * 2004: ''Honey in the Lion's Head'' (Trailer) * 2006: ''The Evening Call'' (Red House) * 2011: ''Freak Flag'' (Yep Roc)
===With Pieta Brown (as producer, guest musician)=== * 2002: ''Pieta Brown'' (Rubric) * 2005: ''In The Cool'' (One Little Indian) * 2007: ''Remember the Sun'' (One Little Indian) * 2009: ''Shimmer'' (Red House) * 2010: ''One and All'' (Red House) * 2011: ''Mercury'' (Red House) * 2014: ''Paradise Outlaw'' (Red House) * 2017: ''Postcards'' (Lustre)
===With The Pines (as co-producer)=== * 2004: ''The Pines'' (Trailer) * 2007: ''Sparrows In The Bell'' (Red House) * 2009: ''Tremolo'' (Red House) * 2012: ''Dark So Gold'' (Red House) * 2016: ''Above The Prairie'' (Red House)
===With Lucinda Williams (as guest musician)=== * 1998: ''Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'' (Mercury) * 2001: ''Essence'' (Lost Highway)
===As producer=== * 1993: High And Lonesome - ''Alackaday'' (Trailer) * 1998: David Zollo - ''Uneasy Street'' (Trailer) * 1999: Dave Moore - ''Breaking Down To 3'' (Red House) * 1999: Teddy Morgan - ''Lost Love & Highways'' (Hightone / Shout! Factory) * 2003: Joan Baez - ''Dark Chords on a Big Guitar'' (Sanctuary / Kich) * 2010: Charlie Parr - ''When The Devil Goes Blind'' (Nero's Neptune) * 2010: Ernie Hendrickson - ''Walking With Angels'' (self-released) * 2011: Kelly Pardekooper - ''Yonder'' (Leisure Time) * 2012: Iris DeMent - ''Sing The Delta'' (Flariella) * 2012: Mike Mangione & the Union - ''Red-Winged Blackbird Man'' (Rodzinka) * 2013: Mason Jennings - ''Always Been'' (Stats and Brackets) * 2015: Jeffrey Foucault - ''Salt as Wolves'' (Blueblade)
===As guest artist=== * 1997: R.B. Morris - ''...Take That Ride...'' (Oh Boy) * 1998: Kate Campbell - ''Visions of Plenty'' (Compass) * 1999: Mark Stuart - ''Songs from a Corner Stage'' (Gearle / E Squared) * 2000: Ani DiFranco - ''Swing Set EP'' (Righteous Babe) * 2000: Ben Weaver - ''Living In The Ground'' (30/30 Industries) * 2000: Bejae Fleming - ''Navigating Limbo'' (Trailer) * 2000: Larry Long - ''Well May The World Go'' (Smithsonian Folkways) * 2000: Kelly Pardekooper - ''Johnson County Snow'' (Leisure Time) * 2002: David Zollo - ''The Big Night'' (Trailer / Rubric) * 2004: Brother Trucker - ''Something Simple'' (Trailer) * 2004: Iris DeMent - ''Lifeline'' (Flariella) * 2005: Faby - ''Finally'' (Megabien) * 2005: Kevin Gordon - ''O Come Look at the Burning'' (Crowville Collective) * 2005: Johnny Hickman - ''Palmhenge'' (Campstove) * 2006: Jeffrey Foucault - ''Ghost Repeater'' (Signature Sounds) * 2008: Becky Schlegel - ''For All the World to See'' (Lilly Ray) * 2008: Calexico - ''Carried to Dust'' (Quarterstick) * 2015: Iris DeMent - ''The Trackless Woods'' (Flariella)
===As song contributor=== * 2001: various artists- ''Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe'' (Telarc) - track 5, "Where's My Everything?" with Greg Brown
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.boramsey.com// Bo Ramsey website] * {{AllMusic | id= bo-ramsey-mn0000758980 | label= Bo Ramsey}} * {{discogs artist|302523-Bo-Ramsey|Bo Ramsey}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Bo}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:People from Burlington, Iowa Category:American folk musicians Category:Singer-songwriters from Iowa