# Tarbox Ramblers
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{{Short description|US musical group}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
The '''Tarbox Ramblers''' are a Boston-based roots and Americana band. The band's sound originally centered on arrangements of early twentieth-century blues, gospel and Appalachian music. It later included bandleader Michael Tarbox's original songs. The group's albums on the Rounder label include a self-titled debut and a second release, A Fix Back East. The albums feature three-part vocal harmonies, a heavy rhythm section and the interplay of slide guitar and violin.
The original line-up with Robbie Phillips ([washtub bass](/source/gut_bucket)), J. Place ([harmonica](/source/blues_harp)), [Mickey Bones](/source/Mickey_Bones) ([drums](/source/drumkit), [washboard](/source/washboard_(musical_instrument)) and [bones](/source/bones_(instrument))) and Michael Tarbox was formed in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge%2C_Massachusetts), in 1994.[{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tarbox-ramblers-mn0000919921|title=Tarbox Ramblers - Biography & History - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918065058/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tarbox-ramblers-mn0000919921|archivedate=2017-09-18}}]
The mid period group consisted of Tarbox (vocalist and [guitarist](/source/slide_guitar)), Daniel Kellar ([violin](/source/violin)ist), Johnny Sciascia ([upright bass](/source/upright_bass) [fiddle](/source/fiddle)), and Jon Cohan (drummer and percussionist).[{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4Q0EAAAAMBAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4Q0EAAAAMBAJ/page/n50 51]|quote=Tarbox Ramblers.|title=Billboard|date=12 February 2000|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|accessdate=18 September 2017|via=Internet Archive}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/tarbox-ramblers/Content?oid=905825|title=Tarbox Ramblers|first=David|last=Whiteis|website=Chicago Reader|date=28 June 2001 |accessdate=18 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918214024/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/tarbox-ramblers/Content?oid=905825|archivedate=18 September 2017}}] Since 2003 Nashville based musician, Scott McEwen plays ([upright bass](/source/upright_bass) [fiddle](/source/fiddle) and [percussion](/source/percussion)) with the Ramblers. Rob Hulsman (drums, Nine Pound Hammer) joined in 2003 and toured and recorded with the band through 2005.
[Rounder Records](/source/Rounder_Records) released The Tarbox Ramblers' eponymous debut album in 2000.[{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/01/30/tarbox-ramblers-a-fix-back/92069a28-2ac7-4313-97a6-f4e4ef6e33c9/|title=TARBOX RAMBLERS "A Fix Back ...|date=30 January 2004|accessdate=18 September 2017|via=www.washingtonpost.com|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918214024/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/01/30/tarbox-ramblers-a-fix-back/92069a28-2ac7-4313-97a6-f4e4ef6e33c9/|archivedate=18 September 2017}}] In summer 2001, [Robert Plant](/source/Robert_Plant) contacted the group, to secure them as his opening act for his [Boston](/source/Boston%2C_Massachusetts) appearance, and subsequently asked them to continue touring with him.[{{cite web|url=http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-features/article/Tarbox-Ramblers-at-Helsinki-Hudson-6879921.php|title=Tarbox Ramblers at Helsinki Hudson|website=timesunion.com|date=9 March 2016 |accessdate=18 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429222251/http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-features/article/Tarbox-Ramblers-at-Helsinki-Hudson-6879921.php|archivedate=29 April 2016}}] They made the [BBC](/source/BBC)'s list of top CDs in 2002.
Tristram Lozaw, a reviewer from the ''[Boston Herald](/source/Boston_Herald)'', described the group as follows:
:"If the [Rolling Stones](/source/Rolling_Stones) had happened 10 years earlier, hailed from [Memphis](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee) and been produced by [Ike Turner](/source/Ike_Turner), they might have sounded like The Tarbox Ramblers. The way the Ramblers lay down their backroads grit and raw hillbilly-rock jive, you're unlikely to hear a more genuine blast of sandpaper rhythm and roots."{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
==Equipment==
Michael Tarbox plays a [Supro Lockola](/source/Supro) solid-body electric guitar in G Tuning (DGDGBD); an [Airline](/source/Airline_(guitar)) Town and Country solid-body electric in D (DADF#AD); and an [Epiphone](/source/Epiphone) acoustic or [Gibson](/source/Gibson_L-4) L-4CES hollow-body electric guitar in Standard Tuning (EADGBE). He uses [Fender](/source/Fender_Stratocaster) Deluxe and Supro amps in combination with a Premier [reverb](/source/reverb) tank.
==Discography==
*''Tarbox Ramblers'', Rounder Records, 2000 [{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/tarbox-ramblers-mw0000062116|title=Tarbox Ramblers - Tarbox Ramblers - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|accessdate=17 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918064938/http://www.allmusic.com/album/tarbox-ramblers-mw0000062116|archivedate=18 September 2017}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/tarbox-ramblers-tarbox-ramblers-1798193172|title=Tarbox Ramblers: Tarbox Ramblers|first=Keith|last=Phipps|website=avclub.com|date=29 March 2002 |access-date=18 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918214024/https://music.avclub.com/tarbox-ramblers-tarbox-ramblers-1798193172|archive-date=18 September 2017}}]
*''A Fix Back East'', Rounder Records, 2004 [{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-fix-back-east-mw0000330421|title=A Fix Back East - Tarbox Ramblers - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|accessdate=17 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918065042/http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-fix-back-east-mw0000330421|archivedate=18 September 2017}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1803331|title=Music Review: 'A Fix Back East' from Tarbox Ramblers|website=npr.org|accessdate=18 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094609/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1803331|archivedate=4 March 2016}}]
*''Four From The West'' (limited edition live set) 2006
*''First Songs/Gospel Cross'' (limited edition early recordings) 2010
*''Songs For Robert Reuter'' (Live EP, recorded in December 2021) 2022
==Michael Tarbox's Solo work==
Tarbox has worked as a [solo artist](/source/solo_artist) throughout his career, often favoring a drum-guitar duo format. In 2010 he released his first [solo album](/source/solo_album), ''My Primitive Joy''. Produced by Scott McEwen at The Fry Pharmacy Studio in [Old Hickory, TN](/source/Old_Hickory%2C_TN), its spare arrangements, acoustic sound and lyrical approach stand in contrast to The Tarbox Ramblers' aggressive amplified sound. A second solo album was slated for release in 2012.
Tarbox's songs have been used in the television shows ''[Sons of Anarchy](/source/Sons_of_Anarchy)'' and ''[Supernatural](/source/Supernatural_(American_TV_series))''. They include "Ashes To Ashes," "Already Gone," "Were You There?" and "No Harm Blues."
=== Solo Discography ===
* ''First Songs/Gospel Cross'' (limited edition early recordings), 2010
* ''My Primitive Joy'', 2010
* ''Works And Days'', 2013
* ''Paler Suns'' (cover song collection), 2020
* ''Two New Songs: Hey Mr. Starlight & Change My Ways'', 2021
* Tarbox Ramblers, ''Songs For Robert Reuter'', 2022
* ''Kingdom Come Blues'' (acoustic solo recording), 2022
* ''Careless Love'' (solo electric, 3 songs, recorded live with audience), 2023
* ''Hail Charlie Parker'' (single), 2023
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040702131714/http://www.accessallareas.info/tarbox.html Biography and reviews]
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-04/21/091r-042100-idx.html "Tarbox Ramblers"], [Geoffrey Himes](/source/Geoffrey_Himes), ''The Washington Post'', April 21, 2000
* [http://www.tarboxramblers.com Band site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/frypharmacy Recording Studio]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Rock music groups from Massachusetts
Category:American blues musical groups
Category:American folk music groups
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tarbox Ramblers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbox_Ramblers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbox_Ramblers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.