James Reams and The Barnstormers to Barnstorm at High Pines Bluegrass Music Festival

James Reams & The Barnstormers, a bluegrass band that was nominated by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2002 as Emerging Artist of the Year, will be appearing at the High Pines Bluegrass Festival on August 18th and 19th along with The Grascals. The High Pines Bluegrass Festival is being held at the Hon-Dah Resort and Casino, 777 Hwy 260, Pinetop, AZ. This is a rare opportunity to see this long-established iconic bluegrass band playing with legendary bluegrass fiddler, Blaine Sprouse.

Here’s how the band is described by noted bluegrass authority Stephanie P. Ledgin in her book, Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass (Praeger Publishers, 2004):

“A plentiful selection of younger, emerging artists continues to grow in both traditional as well as progressive bluegrass camps. James Reams & The Barnstormers rely on early country material and originals written in authentic style. The results are a virtual history of the music and its roots, played in a clean, heartfelt manner that is somewhere between Bill Monroe’s and the Stanley Brothers’.”

A nationally known band, James Reams & the Barnstormers are bringing their brand of bluegrass to selected venues in the southwest. The band will be celebrating 20 years of playing bluegrass music in 2013 with plans for a coast-tocoast celebration and the release of the DVD documentary “Making History with Pioneers of Bluegrass Music”. Their latest CD, One Foot in the Honky Tonk, made two Top Ten CDs of 2011 lists and had a single that charted nationally.

Here are some reviews of their newest CD:

Lonesome Road Review by Larry Stephens:

"[James Reams & the Barnstormers] have been around almost two decades, playing their own style of music. James’ music is hardcore traditional bluegrass and acoustic music. There’s no indication that he feels bound to the Monroe tradition and you’ll hear some old-time sound in his music, but if he isn’t in the same vein of coal with Monroe he’s certainly in the same coal mine."

Joe Ross, reviewer for Bluegrass Now and SPBGMA’s Bluegrass Music News:

“James Reams and the Barnstormers have built a solid reputation for lively, spirited, soulful, no-frills-added bluegrass with a nice mix of traditional numbers, covers and originals. Fronted by his rustic and rural lead vocals, they dish up exciting bluegrass in a classic old-school style of yesteryear…this album has plenty of songs that belong on today's jukeboxes and ipods.”

JP Tausig, Country Standard Time:

"With a voice like Del McCoury's, Reams has captured the feel of old honkytonk jukebox music. ‘I Can't Settle Down’ is a great example of what Reams and the Barnstormers can do. ‘Snake Eyes’ is an original Reams tune about bad luck and gambling, with clean instrumentals and surprising harmonies on the chorus… Reams' style turns even this topic into a song you might dance to on a Saturday night.”

John Lupton, in Country Standard Time, wrote this about the band's first album, Barnstormin':

“The music on this disc features elements reminiscent of the sophisticated stylings of fellow Kentuckian Bill Monroe mixed with the old time, deep-hollow sound of the Stanley Brothers...This is hard-core bluegrass from down home.” The band’s next album — James Reams, Walter Hensley & The Barons of Bluegrass — was nominated by the International Bluegrass Music Association as a Recorded Event of the Year.

Raised in eastern Kentucky but now living in Phoenix, James Reams puts a layer of desert grit over a solid base of traditional bluegrass music. His band treads the terrain where bluegrass, old-time, classic country, honky tonk and rockabilly meet in the night to swap stories. These are the sounds of the hills and hollers combined with the sounds of factories, railroad yards and honky tonks.

The Hon-Dah Resort & Casino is located at the junction of Highway 260 and Highway 73 in Pinetop, AZ 85935. The festival grounds at the Resort provide a wonderful opportunity to enjoy fine music in an outdoor setting located in the cool pines (at an elevation of over 7000 feet) on the beautiful White Mountain Apache Reservation. For directions checkout the Hon-Dah Resort & Casino website at http://www.hon-dah.com/special_events.html.

For more information about the show, contact the Hon-Dah Resort & Casino at 928-369-7577 or james@jamesreams.com. For more information about James Reams & The Barnstormers (including music clips), visit www.jamesreams.com or http://cdbaby.com/all/jamesreams.