The Rincon Ramblers- The Green Rolling Hills of La Conchita
Matilija Music
PO Box 1356
Ojai, Calif 93074
46:18

The Rincon Ramblers are:
Alan Thornhill - Guitar, Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals
Jon Wilcox- Mandolin, Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals
Phil Salazar-fiddle, Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals
Bill Flores- Dobro, Weissenborn, Button Accordian, Pedal Steel
Dan Wilson- Guitar, Bass

with :
Chris Hillman- Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals
Maria Del Ray- Cello, Harmony Vocals
Giles Apap- Violin
Jim Monahan- Harmony Vocals

Whitesburg (Intro)/ Walk On By/ Last Letter Home/ The Rising of the Moon/ Mary Mary/ Steam Powered Aereoplane/ How Will I Ever Be Simple Again/ Irish Medley/ The Circle Is Small/The Good Ship Hispaniola/ Dobro Twist/ Taking Her Time/ Whitesburg

I usually hate to get self-released discs to review. The majority of them are not worth the plastic they are made on. A friend sent me this one and said "My friend has a band, I would like you to listen to their Cd". That is usually the secret phrase that really means "This CD sucks really bad". So when I got the Rincon Ramblers release in the mail, I was scared to open it. I have a bad heart and I can't handle major amounts of suckage. So there it sat upon my desk. Finally I said a prayer and unwrapped it.

Hey! Look who's on this thing! Jon Wilcox from Marleys Ghost, Fiddle Great Phil Salazar, and Chris Hillman is even on two tracks! And look at the songs, Last Letter Home, Steam Powered Aereoplane, Dobro Twist. This might not suck after all! At least they have the taste to cover some really killer songs. So I pop it in the Cd player and punch play. The disk starts off with Whitesburg, a fiddle tune done supurbly by Phil and Jon. The next track is an original tune penned by Chris Hillman and Alan Thornhill. Then Jon sings Last Letter Home. I swear, he and I must have the same record collection. Theres a Kate Wolf Tune, a Richard Thompson one, a Josh Graves song, and a Gordon Lightfoot one. The remainder are all self-penned. Very Tasty picking by all. The disc is what I call California Country. More folky than twangy. Theres some very nice Pedal steel on The Circle is Small.

The Rincon Ramblers are a bunch of excellent musicians that all live in the Santa Barbara/Ventura California area. The got together out of a love of musc and a desire to play locally, But I'm hoping that they decide to tour as well. A mellow sound, great picking, good songs, The suckage factor is non existant. I would like to see them live. Write to them, get a copy of the disc. and if you live out there on the West Coast, Keep an eye out for the Rincon Ramblers. Roll On Mighty Ramblers, Roll On.



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