Dry Branch Fire Squad

“Ron Thomason is a National Treasure.”

“It’s a matter of receptiveness, of openness to a tradition...(they) show sensitivity and respect for the people who “made” this music...(The music) is beautiful but there is another side to this band that must be experienced in the flesh: humor...I’ve seen full barrooms grow so quiet I could hear the soda fizz in my glass. And I’ve seen audiences so convulsed with laughter that minutes had to pass before the show could go on.”

“Simply put, this is the best live band playing today...each time I was moved not only to laughter, but tears and joy as well. Every time.”

“Resonating throughout, is Ron Thomason’s passionate, moaning, cracking voice, old-time and authentic yet unfailingly musical. The man’s a national treasure, for his brilliant on-stage humor, his abiding commitment to taking his intelligence ever deeper into the sources and meaning of the music, and the intensity of his singing. He has an unerring sensibility for what brought many of us to country and bluegrass music.”

“For (almost 50) years Dry Branch Fire Squad has been one of bluegrass music’s most popular bands, renowned for its spry mix of front-porch standards, modern ballads, and the old-time sounds from which bluegrass first sprang. The (quartet) is positively adored for its droll, scampy stage shows, fueled by Ron Thomason’s cornpone-and-hard-cider wit. On their irresistible new Rounder concert CD, Live at the Newburyport Firehouse...his laconic monologues unfurl like long, laze serpents: When they strike, it’s with such suddenness and accuracy that they almost leave you too breathless to laugh. Almost. ”

“Rarely does old-time music sound so new and powerful.”