The Blue Rags: original line-up and more!

The Blue Rags

http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomthebluerags

From playing Piedmont juke joints to open-mic nights at some of the area’s most stalwart venues, the Blue Rags quickly took over the mid-‘90s Asheville music scene. Their startling brand of roots-music-on-overdrive earned them packed houses across the country, and a two-record-deal with venerable indie label SubPop. It was their wild ride and Asheville went with them.

If the Blue Rags were the roots, they helped grow a lot of branches, including the Avett Brothers and Scrappy Hamilton (now Truth and Salvage Company, touring with the Black Crowes).

Now Scott Sharpe, Jake Hollifield, Abe Reid, Woody Wood and Mike Rhodes will reconnect at the Grey Eagle (the venue where Sharpe and Hollifield first dubbed their project "The Blue Rags").

The show is more than a reunion of one of Asheville’s most influential bands. It’s a new look at what the players have been creating since they stopped touring in 2000. The showcase features Hollifield’s band The Screamin’ Js, complete with his legendary manic piano, featuring Mad Tea Party’s Jason Krekel and members of Firecracker Jazz Band. Reid will play the soulful blues with which he’s known to mesmerize rooms across the region. Sharpe belts out vintage ‘50s rock a la Joe Clay, Link Wray and Gene Vincent with his new band Crackerjack. And Woody is ever Woody; a consummate entertainer and one-man show several nights of the week.

The bands will play short sets ahead of the Rags’ reunion, which promises to be nothing short of foot-stompin,’ hand-clappin’, singalong and dance-til-you’re-dizzy good times.

Screaming Js

http://www.myspace.com/screamingjaysday

Crackerjack

http://www.myspace.com/ashevegascrackajack

Woody Wood

http://www.woodywoodmusic.com/

Abe Reid

http://www.abereid.com/