The Rock Bottom Boys

The Rock Bottom Boys

For reasons that at this time remain somewhat unclear to me, I like bluegrass, Texas swing, and vintage country. I especially like harmonies. I also like fiddle playing, banjos and country yodeling. And I think I have for as long as I can remember.

This is somewhat interesting in that my parents don't care for any of that type of music, and I don't really remember hearing it when I was young except for maybe the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland, or the musicians you'd see at Knott's Berry Farm.

I remember Aerosmith and KISS being my favorite bands in middle school, and moving into a whole LA punk rock thing in the late 70's and early 80's-though I did like country-punk band Rank and File

and X's country tribute, The Knitters. Wait, maybe I could have gone country in a different set of circumstances....

When Toy Story 2 came out, I noticed that there was a Woody's Round-Up CD by Riders in the Sky, which I promptly bought for my son, though I played it myself, and then picked up a few other Riders in the Sky CD's as well. I don't think my son cared one way or the other, but I enjoyed them.

A couple of years ago, I picked up Strummin' With the Devil:The Southern Side of Van Halen, which has a bunch of bluegrass bands taking apart their favorite Van Halen songs (David Lee Roth even sings on a few of them), and really liked it.

So two summers ago, as I was strolling across the Ventura County Fair, I heard a rendition of Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train that I really liked, and I made my kids stop and listen. They didn't know any of the songs that the Rock Bottom Boys were performing, mostly covers of 60's and 70's FM radio staples in a bluegrass style, but I liked them so much that I bought their CD, It's Only Rock and Roll, which I play once in a while. Good harmonies, and the guys can play.

I missed the Rock Bottom Boys last year, though they were at the fair, and this year I made it a point to watch one of their sets, bribing my kids to listen. They're one of those fair type music acts, with bad jokes and hillbilly costumes that make them more likable. I don't know what happened to the washboard player, but now they added a young guy on mandolin-another instrument I'd like to learn to play as poorly as I do guitar and ukulele. 

This post kind of went around the mountain to just say that The Rock Bottom Boys are fun, and I'm curious as to why they don't throw a few more modern songs in their set. If your walking across some county fair and see them setting up, stop in for a spell and give 'em a listen.