Rick Norcross, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Taryn Noelle, Vocalist
Dono Schabner, Vocals, Lead Guitar
Doug Reid, Fiddle, Mandolin
Charlie MacFadyen, Piano, Accordion
Chris Wright, Vocals, Bass Guitar
Rachel Bischoff, Vocals, Drums
Rambler Rick Norcross celebrates his 45th year in the music business with a 10 concert "I Rode The Ti" Tour of Vermont and the June 28th release of a new Rick & The Ramblers Western Swing Band CD titled, (what else?) "I Rode The Ti." The CD was recorded in March and April at Charles Eller Studios in Charlotte with crack engineer Lane Gibson. It will be released on June 28th with a CD Release Party from the main stage at the Green Mountain Chew Chew Food & Music Festival in Burlington's magnificent Waterfront Park. "I Rode The Ti" is Rick's sixth album on the Airflyte Records label and his third project at Charles Eller Studios.
"I Rode The Ti" contains 12 songs, six written by Rick with the title track recounting the historic Vermont experience riding on the last voyage of the Ticonderoga, a 220 foot sidewheel steamboat built in 1906 and moved two miles overland in 1955 to the Shelburne Museum. Two songs involve "Rambling" up and down Vermont Route 7 and another pays tribute to the not-always-welcome "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"
Taryn Noelle, accompanied by the The Blue Gardenias, sings her show-stopper, "Swing of the Range," a song from the Gene Autry movie "Rancho Grande" originally sung by Mary Lee, Rick's next door neighbor at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester in 1948. Mary Lee starred in nine Gene Autry movies, three Roy Rogers and several of her own Republic Pictures between 1939 and 1943 before marrying and moving to Vermont as the wife of Harry Banan, an Army sergeant like Rick's father.
"I Rode The Ti" features two songs from Rick's musical heroes, the Light Crust Doughboys, one of the genre's most influential groups from Fort Worth, Texas. Rick worked with two of the Light Crust Doughboys from their golden years (1939 -1941), Knocky Parker and Smokey Montgomery, during Easter Week of 1965 and 1966 on Daytona Beach as part of the All-American All-Star Caravan.
Rick is donating all the proceeds from the 45th Anniversary Concert Series and the sale of the new Rick & The Ramblers' "I Rode The Ti" CD with the goal of raising $45,000 for three of his favorite Vermont treasures; the restoration upkeep fund for the Shelburne Museum's steamboat Ticonderoga, a new set of front steps for the Hardwick Town House and the Vermont State Parks. Rick & The Ramblers have performed 53 concerts in the beautiful Vermont State Parks over the past 10 years. The "I Rode The Ti" CD project was made possible by generous grants from Bobby & Holly Miller, Lois McClure and the Vermont Council on the Arts.
As the new "I Rode The Ti" so appropriately demonstrates, a Rick & The Ramblers Western Swing Band performance is a high energy, entertaining and danceable trip back to a Vermont of a simpler, more musical day. A time of live radio, touring musical revues and family values. A Rambler show is fraught with Vermont-grown original music, classic western swing chestnuts and top-notch musicianship. Each member of the Ramblers is an excellent musician in his or her own right. Together Rick & The Ramblers deliver an exceptional musical experience... loaded with laughs, musical memories, surprises and sweet harmonies.
Rick & The Ramblers travel the region in an attention-grabbing 1957 Flxible Starliner tour bus in the style of early western swing legends like Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys. The Starliner appeared in a Jennifer Love Hewitt ABC-TV bio-pic about the life of Audrey Hepburn and in an MTV pilot called "Live Through This." Former Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle commandeered the bus and Rick for a tour of the entire State of Vermont during his 2004 gubernatorial campaign, visiting over 60 towns in all 14 counties in just one week. The whirlwind tour included a trip over Lincoln Gap in the Starliner which gave the old timers at the Lincoln General Store quite a start.
Rick & The Ramblers 2008 "I Rode The Ti" Tour of Vermont is sponsored by the Vermont Department of Forests & Parks (for the 10th year), Citizen's Bank (for the third year) and their good friends at 98.9WOKO, who have sponsored Rick & The Ramblers Western Swing Band for 21 Consecutive Years supported by an aggressive promotional campaign on Vermont's number one Arbitron-rated radio station, the 100,000-watt powerhouse, 98.9WOKO!
And speaking of WOKO, don't miss Rick & The Ramblers at the WOKO Country Club Music Festival with Jason Aldean and John Anderson at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds on July 20th.
| Rick Norcross, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar | ||
From East Hardwick, Vermont, Rick celebrates 45 years in the music biz by fronting the band of his dreams, the Ramblers. He spent 17 years performing as a solo singer/songwriter, toured England for 10 years, working the southeast out of Tampa before returning home to play Vermont summers and Florida winters for 25 years. For the past 20 years, he has resided in a former railway express depot at the foot of Battery Street on Burlington's historic waterfront, inspired by breathtaking sunsets over Lake Champlain. Rick writes songs and spins tales of a Vermont gone but not forgotten. He is secretary/treasurer of the Vermont Musicians' Association, Local 351, American Federation of Musicians, vice president for Vermont of the New England Conference of Musicians, is listed in the International Who's Who in Popular Music and is honored to stand on stage with this talented and wonderful band of Ramblers.
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| Taryn Noelle, Vocalist | ||
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Vocalist Taryn Noelle is the Ramblers' Sweetheart of the Rodeo. "Luminous, Evocative, Poignant and Soulful" are words spoken about this talented young singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. Originally from Toronto, Taryn has studied dance, theatre and voice with acclaimed New York and Vermont vocal teacher Bill Reed and at the renowned Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City. After years of playing leading roles in American Musical Theatre, she returned to Stowe to focus on her love of singing, playing on her considerable talent as a jazz and cabaret vocalist. Taryn has recorded two CDs of her own. Her most recent release, "There Was A Boy...," was recorded live with her jazz trio during a flawless performance at Ye Olde England Inne in Stowe. "There Was A Boy..." was named "Best Album of 2006 By A Young Vermont Jazz Chanteuse" by Brent Hallenbeck, of The Burlington Free Press. Art Edelstein, Arts Correspondent at the Barre Times-Argus, awarded Taryn a "Tammy" for "Best Singer of 2006." The Tammy is the Times-Argus award for "albums and musicians whose performances are the best of the best for Vermont music in 2006." In addition to her jazz and cabaret bookings, Taryn has joined the Ramblers to bring her sultry voice, her commanding stage presence and her audience-melting smile to our stages. As she says, "At the center of my heart beats the swoons, swells and swing of the 30's and 40's." Rambler Taryn Noelle is simply... Terrific. Learn more about Taryn by visiting her Web Site: www.tarynnoelle.com |
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| Dono Schabner, Vocals, Lead Guitar | ||
Dono Schabner is one of those rare fellows who can play any style of music with one lip tied behind his head. Maybe it's because he started playing guitar at the age of 12 in Italian weddings bands in his Long Island hometown. Maybe it's because he has a wicked good ear and the fingers to make it happen. Maybe it's that brand new Fender Telecaster he has been bringing to gigs lately. What ever it is, it sure works like a well-oiled, soulful music machine on the Ramblers stages when his solos come around! Dono came to the Ramblers at the suggestion of Will Patton who works with Dono as a duo on occasion. Sometimes Dono and Will work with jazz songbird and Rambler Taryn Noelle. So they already have that innate sense of timing you get when you work and think together on a bandstand. Dono lives in Morrisville and works in the Northeast Kingdom as an educational techie between musical gigs adding his tasty licks to
sweeten the sound of The Ramblers.
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| Doug Reid, Fiddle, Mandolin | ||
The Oak Ridge Boys said it, "Ya got to have a fiddle in the band!" And thanks to referrals by Ramblers Taryn Noelle and Dono Shabner and kudos from Chuck Eller, The Ramblers now have a terrific fiddle in the band! Before Doug Reid started violin lessons at fourteen he was listening to Stephane Grappelli, and is excited to be at the stage in his career when he can devote himself to the fine points of this lyrical style. Classically trained, he spent many years as a touring sideman in country & western bands out of Southern California, Austin and Atlanta. He has opened for many major acts in country music. While living in Texas, he studied jazz and composition at North Texas State University and played with several of the Texas Playboys, including Joe Holley and Johnny Gimble. Doug spent seven years as a feature performer at the Jim Stafford Show, in Branson, Missouri, where, he was alternately comedy writer, arranger, Music Director, and head of Special Effects. Doug was with the Paris Swing Orchestra of New York for four years at the annual Bastille Day Celebration on 60th Street. He returned home to Vermont in 1999 and currently resides in Wheelock in the Northeast Kingdom. |
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| Charlie MacFadyen, Piano, Accordion | ||
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Charlie was educated at Oberlin College (math & music) and as the piano player for the Burlington rockabilly and swing band Buck & the Black Cats, making him the perfect choice as keyboard whiz and accordion player for Rick & The Ramblers. Originally from New York, Charlie has lived in Burlington since 1992 and by day is a high school math teacher at CVU in Hinesburg. Besides holding down the stage left position on the Ramblers' team, Charlie plays accordion with the jazz quartet Combo 37. His latest project is raising a piano trio at home with his two sons on bass and drums. He prefers the old-fashioned swing, boogie and honky-tonk piano styles in the tradition of Moon Mullican and Al Stricklin which fits the sound of the Ramblers like a sequined glove. Charlie outdid himself creating the swinging arrangements on the new Ramblers CD project.
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| Chris Wright, Vocals, Bass Guitar | |
See Chris' photo gallery |
By day, an unassuming electrician from Barre, Vermont, just a few shocks past winning his Master's papers. By night and onstage... one wicked talented bass player and spot-on vocalist. Chris Wright brings 10 years experience as one of Jamie Lee Thurston's Rattlers and a love of real country music to the table. Before Jamie Lee headed to Nashville to hone his songwriting skills and further his country career, the Rattlers and the Ramblers shared many stages together at festivals and at WOKO events. Rick always admired Chris's on-stage bass sound, his harmony vocals and his easy-going style. So when the bass opening came up, Rick made the call and in a weak moment, Chris agreed to bring his considerable talents to the
Ramblers' bandstand. With Chris on bass and Rachel Bischoff on drums, the Ramblers' rhythm section just can't miss getting happy feet moving and grooving to the western swing beat.
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| Rachel Bischoff, Vocals, Drums | ||
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Rachel brings 18 years of rock solid experience laying down the energetic swing beat on the drums behind the Ramblers. She played in a number of local and regional bands, most notably the all-female rock band Zola Turn, before joining the Ramblers. Rachel worked at Advance Music Center in Burlington for eight years and then returned to the University of Vermont to snag a B.A. in Music, Class of 2004. Rachel owns RMB Sound, a full service production company that provides Sound, Lighting and Equipment Rentals to local and national acts as well as major festivals and special events throughout the region. In addition to kick-starting the Rick & The Ramblers rhythm
section from behind her drum kit, Rachel's RMB Sound crew
also provides the perfect mix out front so that the audience can
enjoy the show as it deserves to be heard.
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