• Jeff Scroggins and Colorado - Ramblin Feels Good

    Jeff Scroggins and Colorado - Ramblin Feels Good

    Parker, Colo. — Jeff Scroggins and Colorado have announced the pending release of their new recording Ramblin Feels Good.

    On Ramblin Feels Good, the band brings together country, bluegrass, and folk in a hard-driving sound. Opening with Willie Nelson's "I'm A Memory," the songs on this album are drawn from bluegrass sources like Don Reno (Wall Around Your Heart), Leon Jackson ("Love Please Come Home") and Hylo Brown ("Down the Road of Life"), as well as classic country like Jimmy Webb ("Galveston") and Dennis Linde ("Night is Fallin in My Heart"), all the way over to Nashville songwriter Walt Aldridge ("She's Got a Single Thing In Mind"). To round out the trinity, they draw from folk sources like Gordon Lightfoot ("Carefree Highway") or Seattle songwriter David Keenan (the fun romp "Sometimes Dig for Taters"). In between, Jeff and Tristan Scroggins have crafted blazingly-hot instrumental tunes likes "Dismal Nitch" or "Lemonade in the Shade" to showcase their picking abilities on the banjo and mandolin respectively.

    Bluegrass in the West is known for incorporating progressive, genre-bending influences, but few bands have perfected a blend of deep tradition and new trailblazing like Jeff Scroggins & Colorado. Hailing from the Western Frontier state of Colorado where the mountains run high and the air runs thin, the band brings together dizzyingly brilliant musicianship with powerhouse Appalachian vocals, a solid and energetic rhythm, and an easy stage banter that has delighted listeners all over the world.

    The Musicians

    • Jeff Scroggins - banjo
    • Tristan Scroggins - mandolin
    • Greg Black - guitar and vocals
    • Mark Schatz - bass
    • Andy Leftwich - fiddle
    • Don Rigsby - harmony vocals
    • David Peterson - harmony vocals

    Selections

    • I'm a Memory
    • Sometimes Dig For Taters
    • Wall Around Your Heart
    • She's Got a Single Thing in Mind
    • Carefree Highway
    • Ramblin Feels Good
    • Dismal Nitch
    • Love Please Come Home
    • Galveston
    • Down the Road of Life
    • Night is Fallin in My Heart
    • Lemonade in the Shade

    Listen

    From the recording Ramblin Feels Good, the track "Dismal Nitch."



    About the track "Dismal Nitch," Jeff Scroggins told us, "I wrote that a couple of years ago while we were touring the Northwest. We were driving from a show in Clatskanie, Oregon to the next show in Raymond, Washington. It was late and pouring rain and I was tired. We crossed the Columbia River at Astoria, Oregon into Washington, and I pulled over to the side of the road to rest for a bit. Right in front of me was a sign that said "Dismal Nitch." I of course had to read that sign, and it turned out to be a National Historic Marker. It was the place where Lewis and Clark first reached the Pacific Ocean; the sign said that they camped there for 57 days, and it rained for 57 days.

    "I assume that was how the place got it's name, but even in the rain that night is was a sort of magical places where the mighty Columbia went rolling by with amazing power and became a part of the Pacific Ocean. It seemed a fitting title for this tune that has a bit of a dark edge and was written as a challenge to right a song using only forward rolls, which it is the first time through. Tristan's break in this tune is particularly brilliant, and it often elicits ovations mid-break. Blake's break is powerful and creative as well, and the final banjo break departs significantly from the original idea and relies heavily on single string ideas. We really enjoy performing this tune, and audiences seem to enjoy it as well."

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