As Rum Drum Ramblers got further and further into their set at Off Broadway, the stomping and grinding guitar chords, the mellow tone of a stand-up bass, and the screaming blues harmonica all strutted on in perpetuity. Having played their new album, Tradin’ Dollars for Dimes, in its entirety, this was no short set. And as the guys threw it all out on the stage, the crowd did the same. Solos matched with woops, shouting choruses matched with yeas; the pulse of their songs was shared by everyone in the room. Because when you’ve got someone on the stage shouting at you, you can’t help but shout back.
With the blues, the chords are already there. The great bluesmen take them and grind out new feelings, new licks, and new ideas. Rum Drum Ramblers did just this, either with a key change and a new harmonica to match (“I Feel It Too”), or with a stop-time verse using a non-traditional chord progression (“South Saint Louis Boogie”). And then, when they went back to the traditional twelve-bar blues, it felt just like getting home after a long road trip. You know, grab a beer from the fridge after that long drive and sink into an old armchair. Whatever feels right.
Apart from band’s three anchors, Mat Wilson, Joey Glynn, and Ryan Koenig, RDR were joined by the session players from their new album. The sound was full and complete with the addition of drum set and baritone sax, and the extra players gave Mat and Joey more space to stretch out in their solos. The bass still played backbone to the band, but the drum set helped the songs shuffle forward and let the guitar and harmonica swing back and forth around the beat. Add the playful growl of a barit sax sliding up into the root note, and you’ve got all the parts moving together.
When the lights came on at 12:50, Rum Drum Ramblers still had one more song on the album left to play. Unplugging their instruments, they moved out into the middle of the dancefloor, and with the crowd surrounding them, clapped and shouted through their final song of the night. This perfect ending for the night really spoke to Rum Drum Ramblers’ roots, to the free spirit of their music. And so the crowd shuffled and stomped out the doors, a testament to the timelessness of the blues.