The Po’Ramblin’ Boys had plenty to celebrate on Friday, August 16. The high-powered bluegrass band marked ten years together with the launch of their latest album Wanderers Like Me at Grimey’s in Nashville, followed by a performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Fiddler Laura Oshaw’s birthday that day just added to the celebration.
The album, produced by Woody Platt, formerly of Steep Canyon Rangers, is their most personal yet, with songs that explore the tension between the joys of life on the road and logging for home. Josh Rinkel, guitarist for the band, wrote or co-wrote seven of the ten songs on the project. He says the theme came together as they began the process of song selection. The band’s goal for their ten-year album was to include more original music. “I didn’t realize all the songs I pitched were about wandering until it was all together,” he said.
The band felt that the title song “Wanderers Like Me,” co-written by Rinkel and Stephen Mougin, was a good broad umbrella that covered the vibe of the whole album, as well as the vibe of the band the past couple of years.
CJ Lewandowski, mandolin player for the band, noted, “We all have different reasons to wander, and we all have different reasons to want to be home.” He said he had always wanted to travel and see the world but didn’t expect to be doing so and being paid to do it. While in middle school and high school, he says, he didn’t expect to leave the county. Instead, he was planning to be a schoolteacher and to stay on the farm.
“But then when the bluegrass bug hit, it went wild. That comes along with the territory,” he said. “You want to see these people you listen to and to play this music for new people, so it feeds that feeling,” he added, “but you also long to be home.” Fortunately, the band’s schedule allows for travel during the touring season, then time off in the winter. “That wanderlust bug is a hard one to shake, but I’m trying to balance as best as I can. It’s running to find something, not running away from something.”
Rinkel recognized a lot of both–“a whole lot of trying to get away from something and trying to find something all at the same time. Maybe trying to get away from who you are and find who you need to be.”
Orshaw explained, “I think the songs speak to all those facets too. There’s the positive—the carefree feel of ‘Clouds in My Mind,’ which suggests, “I’m out of here. This is who I am; this is what I’m doing; this is why doing it.” Other songs on the album—such as “Wanders Like Me” and “The Old Santa Fe,” she says, look at the other side, “trying to live the dream. They all cover the differing emotions and reasons for traveling, for dealing with change, for seeing new things, experiences the longings too, then going back home or finding a new song. It’s a ten-year reflection on all our different problems and feelings.”
The opportunity to work with Platt came after years of a developing friendship. Platt had shown an interest, watching the band perform at festivals. Lewandowski sometimes called on Platt for advice. He trusted his insight and admired his musical accomplishments. Once The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys began planning the new album, Platt was not working on the road with the Steep Canyon Rangers anymore, but he was doing a lot musically. When the band asked him to work with them, he obliged.
Lewandowski noted that they hadn’t worked with a producer before, but the decision was a good one. “[The experience has] taken what we’ve built ourselves and pushed us a little out of our comfort zones, as far as playing and singing, but in a good direction—it’s not a leap; it’s not a jump; it’s a really good step to add to the story.”
Describing Platt’s vision for the project, Rinkel added, “Woody knew exactly what he wanted from us from the second this whole process started.” He said Platt knew it was still their record not his, and “I think he nailed it. [Working with him] was like watching a magician.” Sometimes, Rinkel admitted, they would roll their eyes at Platt’s suggestions, then after one pass, they saw what he had in mind. “His vision for this record never wavered one time,” said Rinkel.
Orshaw also noted that Platt maintained his passion and excitement throughout the project from pre- to post-production. This was key to success, she said, since an album project can be draining, especially when balanced with time on the road. “It’s hard for five people to all stay completely excited, engaged, and on it the whole time, but having him there with that constant vision, excitement, passion, enthusiasm allowed all of us to focus individually and then focus as a group in a way that we had never done before. I think that shows through the music too.”
Wanderers Like Me is The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ second album with Smithsonian Folkways, another connection the band values. Lewandowki said he first met John Smith from Smithsonian Folkways during his IBMA Leadership Bluegrass experience in 2017. The band was considering changing labels, and he said Smith brought “a lot of excitement about what we were doing, rejuvenating some old songs, but also writing original material.” Since the label is also known for their preservation efforts, representing world music, not just Americana, folk, and bluegrass, and some of his favorite bluegrass music, Lewandowski says he and the other band members take pride in being part of that catalog. “They’re very open to letting us be us and do us.”
Audiences easily recognize The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ infectious camaraderie on stage. The band also realizes the significance of achieving a decade together as a band, acknowledging that their genuine friendship on and off stage contributes to that longevity.
Orshaw says they often describe themselves as a family. “Some of the band members have been together since they were teenagers and have seen the vision of the band evolve. You can’t replicate that.” Together they have created something greater than they could have done individually or even with a different ground of band members, she says. Knowing each other since children, they communicate much more like friends and family than business partners. This dual relationship can be good and bad, too, Orshaw said. “Relationships are tested and strained and pulled in different ways, but everybody in the band has done a lot to maintain both sides and see the full vision of this band grow as much as possible. It’s a cool thing to be a part of—and very rare,” she said.
As the only female in the band, Orshaw says she likes being able to represent. “I didn’t see a lot of women playing super traditional bluegrass when I was growing up—and I love traditional bluegrass. But I saw more modern, progressive or related styles of folk music that had women both as front people or a side people, so it’s important to me.” She says that she sometimes wishes there was another girl around, but, she jokes, “the guys really like jewelry and outfits, so that helps.”
As the band has evolved, they have kept their finger on the pulse of who they are. Lewandowski said, “We grew up in a traditional setting of music–I mean that musically and physically–and you learn a lot from that, from the good and bad of it. I think we wanted to honor the good and we wanted to expand upon it. There’s a lot going on, but there’s always music, and music is medicine for us.”
Lewandowski admits they didn’t have a set plan when they started out playing in a distillery in East Tennessee. “We’ve been on our toes a lot and learned it together. We can’t be too closed minded in our planning and preparation. We just wanted to play the music that we wanted to play, and it that turned out pretty well. People liked it; we aren’t always what they expect. It’s just what do.”
Orshaw described the impact of growing up with traditional bluegrass–or any traditional art–form as a passion. She says a tension exists when people resist any change. While they have spent time around the people whose music they loved and wanted to emulate, that they had to keep a clear vision for themselves, making room for change and growth.
She continued, “When you do something for ten years, you need to be new and interesting, representative of your own life, your own feelings. We live in a modern society. We travel, interact with all sorts of different people from different walks of life. We learn from them and want to relate to them through our music, so we’ve tried to be ambassadors for bluegrass music and to exemplify it the best we can. But we don’t want to put up too many boundaries or barriers about defining what we are. We’re lucky to have distinctive styles of playing and singing that we’ve honed on our own, but honestly, we couldn’t sound like Béla Fleck if we wanted to. We couldn’t sound like the Lonesome River Band. Those parts and pieces that make up those sounds are not the parts and pieces that that we have, so no matter what we do, whether it sounds a little different or a little more progressive, we sound like us. We want to carry that with us on as times change, as we change, as we meet more people and have more experiences. The music we make is living and breathing, not put in a box by having to be a traditional art form.
Lewandowski said he learned that lesson from his mentor Bobby Osborne. The bluegrass legend said when he started to learn to play mandolin, he wanted to play just like Bill Monroe, but when he met his idol and played for him, Monroe said, “There’s already a Bill Monroe. Go and be you.”
Lewandowski said, “Bobby told me at that point, he just ran with it and became his own stylist. I remember that so well because I look at him as a as a pillar. At that time, the Osborne brothers were stretching the boundaries a whole lot, but everything that was once progressive becomes a standard. He became known as a traditionalist and a pillar in the industry. For someone who helped define and create the music to say it’s okay to be yourself—that’s a huge push. It made me realize a lot of things about myself and what we were doing as a band.”
Lewandowski pointed to “humbling moments” that made “more grateful to go out and play music in places I never thought I’d see or play.” The band recently returned from a trip to Spain where they participated in a rockabilly festival. He noted that overseas, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are considered “authentic.” They join a long line of Americans that grew up in the mountains, wrote songs, and have a culture that Europeans like. “They treat us so well over there,” he said. “I feel like a rock star every time I go over there.”
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys also openly acknowledge the loss and challenges of the past year that shaped them individually and as a band. Lewandowski said he personally has lost seven people in the last year—both in and out of the music industry. The experiences, good and bad, have opened his eyes, making him want to “sing with a little more heart and leave my mark is as good as I can—because you have no clue when your sand runs out.”
Part of that response also involves investing generously in others coming up in the music world. They recognize what they have because of generous people who believed in them and invested in them. “The best way I could pay it back,” said Lewandowski, “is by paying it forward. I try to do that with people that I see who are dedicated and in it for the long haul.”
Like many bands now, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys face challenges. Right now, they feel the impact of inflation. Rinkel pointed to a broad spectrum of elements that contribute to the difficulty of touring musicians. While some people might think hopping in a van or bus is not important, he says COVID made it real. “Like we said,” he added, “music is medicine, so it is necessary. Covid made us realize that we are essential.”
Lewandowski added that traveling 8 or 9 hours to play a 45- or 75- minute set makes him want to ask, “What is wrong with us? Are we crazy?” Then, he said, “We get up there on stage and see what we do for people, with people, and that’s gratifying.
“We’re not out there making millions of dollars. There’s a lot of sacrifice–mentally, physically, emotionally, financially–to do this. It’s a testament to people who actually go out and play music for a living. They sacrifice a lot to do this to satisfy themselves and to help satisfy other people and stir up some emotion and make them feel not so lost. We need those people so we don’t feel lost either, so it’s a really cool symbiotic relationship.”
“People who play music for a living,” Lewandowski said, “are scrappers. They’re innovators, always trying to make things work. I salute everybody that plays music for a living because it is one of the hardest jobs ever to get to wherever this level of fame or success. Everybody’s definition of success is different, but the bluegrass bands of our time are not making much. They’re not buying Maseratis and Rolls. They’re living a very decent life.”
While the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys enjoy introducing traditional bluegrass music to a new generation, they those who are sounding the warning, “We can’t let it die! We can’t let it die!” Lewandowski explains, “[Bluegrass is] not going to die; it can’t die. There’s no way it’s going to die with what we do and with [people such as]Billy Strings, Kody Norris, and the Stringdusters, and all; there’s no threat.”
Rinkel added, “Saying that you can’t let it die is insinuating that it’s wounded.” Lewandowski agreed and added, “It’s not wounded. It’s ever-growing, ever-changing. It’s like a pretty rose bush: It’s blooming, it’s growing, it’s fine. It may be a little bit slower rate sometimes, but everything has an ebb and a flow.”
When The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are not wandering, they can be found playing regularly in the Nashville area, often at the Station Inn, where they have served a residency in the past year. During their show, the members, which includes Jereme Brown on banjo and Jasper Lorentzen, keep up a lively repartee. Lorentzen energetically moves the upright bass around stage through shows, and Brown takes his share of the vocal leads and harmonies. Their high-voltage picking and their infectious stage presence assure audiences and fans that, on their watch, bluegrass is alive and well.
