Reams, James

Posted on by WR

JAMES REAMS (AND THE BARNSTORMERS)

  • From southeast Kentucky. Moved to Brooklyn, New York and also has a home in Phoenix, Arizona.
  • A guitarist and vocalist, he was dubbed the Father of Brooklyn Bluegrass.
  • 1992-1998, performed and recorded with a group called The Mysterious Redbirds.
  • 1992, released first solo album Kentucky Songbird (Leghorn)..
  • 2001, released Barnstormin album (Copper Creek) with his band The Barnstormers.
  • 2002, released an album with banjo player Walter Hensley as James Reams, Walter Hensley & The Barons of Bluegrass (Copper Creek).
  • 2005, released Troubled Times album (no label).
  • 2011, moved to Arizona and formed a west-coast version of the Barnstormers with Billy Parker (mandolin), Tyler James (banjo), Dan Meyer (bass) and Blaine Sprouse (fiddle). His east-coast version of the band includes Mark Farrell (mandolin/fiddle), Doug Nicolaisen (banjo) and Nick Sullivan (bass).
  • 2012, released Blackest Crow album (no label).
  • 2013, released One Foot in the Honky Tonk album (no label).
  • 2016, released Rhyme & Season album (no label).
  • 2020, a documentary film about James was released called Like A Flowing River: A Bluegrass Passage (Backyard Green Films).
  • 2021, released Like a Flowing River Soundtrack Album (Mountain Redbird).
  • 2022, he died at the age of 66 (cancer).