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Wise County bluegrass band invited to perform at National Mall in D.C.

 

The Midnight Ramblers will be performing at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., next week. Contributed photo.

WISE - Youth and talent will carry you so far, which in the case of four Wise County teenagers, will be the National Mall in Washington, D.C., next week.

How far they can get afterward is the stardusty stuff music dreams are made.

Two 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds constitute The Midnight Ramblers, a Wise County bluegrass band so blessed by the blush of youth that it's almost a comfort to know the group is managed and undoubtedly seriously chaperoned by a man who wears a badge.

Wise Police Chief Tony Bates got the band manager job mostly because his 17-year-old daughter, Cherise, is the female vocalist and bass player for The Midnight Ramblers. Not that the three young male members of the group - Austin Boggs of Wise, Abram Mullins of Dungannon and Marcus Johnson of Castlewood - would likely be inclined to argue with a man who straps on a gun for his day job.

Helping teens manage their stagecraft dreams, though, is a lot more uplifting than what he usually confronts in law enforcement.

"These kids are very talented, and I guess what they've really got going for them right now, on top of their talent, is their age," Bates said. "Of course, with my job and because of the profession I'm in, when dealing with teens it's usually troubled teens. We never get to talk to ‘good' teens unless we stop and strike up a conversation. But these kids, they want to do something with their career in music, and I want to help them get off the ground."

The group has only been together a year but has already made quite a splash on the regional bluegrass scene. Being a savvy manager, Bates shipped a CD to the organizers of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival. What they heard they obviously liked because an invitation was extended to the The Midnight Ramblers to perform during this year's festival with two performances each day on July 7-8.

"It's an honor for these kids to go to our nation's capital and represent Wise County in this way," said Bates. "The kids are excited about it. Their picking is flawless. They've got it together to be so young, and for being together for so short a time. They want to go up there and represent our area and make the people of Wise County proud."

Cherise is the baby of the group because she is still in high school. She is a rising senior at J.J. Kelly High School in Wise, the same school the group's mandolin player, Austin, graduated from just last month. Austin also happens to be Cherise's boyfriend, and he is how she learned to love bluegrass.

"The funny thing is, when my boyfriend and I would go to my grandma's house, he would have that bluegrass stuff on the car stereo and I was, like, ‘Oh gosh, please turn that to something else.' Then I got to the point where I loved it. I listened to (local bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley) and realized, ‘Hey, it takes talent to play bluegrass,'" Cherise said.

Not only talent, but know-how. Oddly enough, until a year ago Cherise couldn't play anything but a radio.

"I never had a music lesson. I never played anything in my life until a year ago," she said. "Now I play the Big Doghouse. The big stand-up bass. I've been playing it about a year, and it didn't take me very long to pick it up. And I just did it that first time for laughs and giggles."

Besides a stretch in a church kids choir, the only pre-Ramblers stage experience for Cherise was a high school play.

"It just took all I had to get on that stage," she said. "Now, I'm used to it. I love being on stage, entertaining. I never dreamed I would be doing this. Well, I used to stand in my bedroom when I was little and sing to the ‘Dixie Chicks.' You know, holding a hairbrush, singing to the mirror."

Austin said his girlfriend got that hairbrush/mirror thing down pat and was ready for bigger and better things.

"We just started playing around a little bit, and then we started getting gigs on the road and all that good stuff," he said. "Cherise just picked the bass up and started playing along. It didn't take her hardly no time to learn it. Now, going to D.C., that's a pretty cool little deal. I'm pretty excited about us going there. Hopefully, we will get recognized by somebody. We would really like to do as much as we can in music."

The group (www.themidnightramblers.net) has a CD available. Of the 13 numbers on the release, five were written by either Austin or Abe.

"Stuff comes to you," said Austin. "You can't just sit down and write a song. It's just got to come to you."

Marcus plays guitar, and Abe has been playing a homemade banjo fashioned out of a locust fence post. Last week, Abe bought a 1926 Gibson banjo as companion to his homemade instrument.

Among their growing fan base are true blue supporters. Sponsors include Bradley Hill of Hill Mandolins in Haysi, well-known producer of Stanley Tone Mandolins; Aaron Lee of OnTrack Studio & Music Supply in Wise; David Burgess of Innovative Graphics & Design in Norton; and Hibbert and Mildred Tackett of Gladeville Quality Cleaners.

The latter keep the group's performing duds pressed and spiffy, said Cherise, and fuss over "their kids'" well-being as well as stage attire like an aunt and uncle.

"They are real fine people," she said. "All our sponsors are wonderful."

Cherise wants to secure her license in cosmetology along with her high school diploma her senior year in high school. But cosmetology is a backup plan.

"Hopefully, a career in music is where we're all going. This is what we all want to pursue in life. It's what we dream of," she said.

"Like most kids, I always dreamed of being in a band. And now it's like a dream come true. It's very exciting that we were invited to play by the people at the Smithsonian. We sent them a CD, and they obviously must like us. It's pretty exciting knowing you're going to be in the nation's capital. And being Fourth of July week, they say there will be over a million people through there then. Even though not all of them might stop and listen to just us, it's pretty exciting to have the opportunity to perform for as many as we can."

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Congratulations to this young group! You all are wonderful! It's good to see young adults doing something wonderful in this day and age!!! Have fun and good luck!

Felicia Jones | 7/1/2007 - 10:47 PM - (Suggest Removal )

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