The Rumpke Mountain Boys are small local band that has not gain a lot of recognition yet. They have phenomenal musical abilities and are slowly gaining a following. It is clear by Rumpke's music that the members draw their influences from a variety of styles such as bands like the Grateful Dead to the classic old timey bluegrass that typically consists of banjo, mandolin, stand up bass, and acoustic guitar.
I had the pleasure of seeing this group live at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland for just five dollars. I arrived half way through the opening act (who I can't remember the name of) and I was able to walk up to the stage due to the lack of people. At the end of the opening band I saw the Jason Wolf who is the banjo player from Rumpke standing in the audience with his banjo. I went up and talked to him about his custom banjo and his music for about thirty minutes before Rumpke went on stage.
Wolf was the most impresses member of Rumpke in my opinion. When I saw them live he played banjo through the first half of the show then dobro for most of the second half of the show. On top of his fantastic abilities on the banjo and dobro he can play slide whistle, washboard, rattles and countless other random instruments to add to the bands sound.
The band covers many various genres of music along with their original music as seen below.
Rumpke Mountain Boys cover of Eyes of the World by The Grateful Dead:
The Rumpke Mountain Boys now have their original album "Trashgrass" available on itunes.
Travis Gates is not the bass player anymore and was not with them for the mentioned show at The Beachland either. The bass player is JD Westmoreland from Memphis, TN. The picture is also out dated showing Travis instead of JD. Not really a local band anymore either. The band has toured as far West as AZ, CO, and NM and as far as Maryland to the east. The are scheduled for Jamaica in 2014! For info check RumpkeMountainBoys.com
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