Ola Belle Reed has become a symbol of the bluegrass movement, a performer with a social conscience whose music has inspired and united people at the roots of American musical traditions. She is often rated among the most important performers of the genre. Her name has been associated with Maybell Carter and Bill Monroe. A talented banjo player who became a tireless promoter of country music, Reed also fought to bring people together as a community.
Born in 1916 in North Carolina, Reed became a central figure in mountain music. But after her records went out of print, many more people knew of her than actually heard her music.
Long-lost recordings
Elena Skye of the Demolition String Band heard Reed for the first time when someone gave her a cassette containing some of Reed’s long-lost recordings.
Skye, who has been in the local musical scene for several decades, never heard anything so stunning. “My world exploded open,” she says.
Reed’s songs resonate with a power and depth rarely found in modern music – a richness of texture and meaning that touches the soul of the American experience.
Skye, whose musical style has ranged from the eclectic Belle Skye to the sharp twang of Demolition String Band, vowed to bring Reed’s music back by recording a tribute.
The Demolition String Band, whose twang rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” received worldwide airplay, released the album Where the Wild, Wild Flowers Grow: The Songs of Ola Belle Reed in May, displaying a remarkable talent for capturing the feeling of the original without giving up their own style.
Their sound has been called “tasteful,” “bittersweet,” and reverent to the original – with moving vocals by Skye and skillful guitar work by Boo Reiner.
The CD is distributed by Okra-Tone Records and features Mike Bub of the Del McCoury Band, Lisa Gutkin of the Klezmatics, and Mary Huff of Southern Culture on the Skids.
The 13 tracks cover many Ola Belle favorites, such as “High on a Mountain” (considered a bluegrass standard), “I’ve Endured,” and “Undone by Sorrow.”
Although Skye was known for being part of Hoboken’s lineup of hardcore punk bands during the 1980s, she’s had roots in bluegrass music since her teens, when she studied Kenneth “Jethro” Burns, a legend on the Chicago club circuit.
In the late 1990s, she formed the Demolition String Band with Reiner. Since then, the band has toured the nation playing bluegrass music with many of the great country acts including Ricky Skaggs, Blue Highway, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, impressing audiences with their skill and knowledge of the genre.
“Some people we have played for in mountain country were amazed at how people from the north could get down with bluegrass the way we could,” Skye says.
CAPTION:
DEMOLITION – Hoboken’s Demolition String Band, featuring Elena Skye on guitar and mandolin, released Where the Wild, Wild Flowers Grow: The Songs of Ola Belle Reed in May. The group will perform an Americana Family Jamboree at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13, at Hoboken’s Shipyard Park. For more info, see www.demolitionstringband.com.
All Ola Belle, all the time
Demolition String Band records a tribute to bluegrass legend Reed
By Al Sullivan
Reporter Senior Staff
Although the New York band Ollabelle already pays tribute to the legendary bluegrass performer Ola Belle Reed with its name, the Hoboken-based Demolition String Band has just released a musical tribute, reviving songs and a style of performance long out of print.
Ola Belle Reed has become a symbol of the bluegrass movement, a performer with a social conscience whose music has inspired and united people at the roots of American musical traditions. She is often rated among the most important performers of the genre. Her name has been associated with Maybell Carter and Bill Monroe. A talented banjo player who became a tireless promoter of country music, Reed also fought to bring people together as a community.
Born in 1916 in North Carolina, Reed became a central figure in mountain music. But after her records went out of print, many more people knew of her than actually heard her music.
Long-lost recordings
Elena Skye of the Demolition String Band heard Reed for the first time when someone gave her a cassette containing some of Reed’s long-lost recordings.
Skye, who has been in the local musical scene for several decades, never heard anything so stunning. “My world exploded open,” she says.
Reed’s songs resonate with a power and depth rarely found in modern music – a richness of texture and meaning that touches the soul of the American experience.
Skye, whose musical style has ranged from the eclectic Belle Skye to the sharp twang of Demolition String Band, vowed to bring Reed’s music back by recording a tribute.
The Demolition String Band, whose twang rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” received worldwide airplay, released the album Where the Wild, Wild Flowers Grow: The Songs of Ola Belle Reed in May, displaying a remarkable talent for capturing the feeling of the original without giving up their own style.
Their sound has been called “tasteful,” “bittersweet,” and reverent to the original – with moving vocals by Skye and skillful guitar work by Boo Reiner.
The CD is distributed by Okra-Tone Records and features Mike Bub of the Del McCoury Band, Lisa Gutkin of the Klezmatics, and Mary Huff of Southern Culture on the Skids.
The 13 tracks cover many Ola Belle favorites, such as “High on a Mountain” (considered a bluegrass standard), “I’ve Endured,” and “Undone by Sorrow.”
Although Skye was known for being part of Hoboken’s lineup of hardcore punk bands during the 1980s, she’s had roots in bluegrass music since her teens, when she studied Kenneth “Jethro” Burns, a legend on the Chicago club circuit.
In the late 1990s, she formed the Demolition String Band with Reiner. Since then, the band has toured the nation playing bluegrass music with many of the great country acts including Ricky Skaggs, Blue Highway, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, impressing audiences with their skill and knowledge of the genre.
“Some people we have played for in mountain country were amazed at how people from the north could get down with bluegrass the way we could,” Skye says.
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