Greetings Friends of Rick & The All-Star Ramblers Western Swing Band,

It has been quite a while since I last posted. I can’t believe we are on the downside of Summer in Vermont already. Here are some terrific upcoming opportunities to hear and “experience” The Ramblers.

We have been invited back to headline one of my favorite Vermont Summer festivals, the Basin Harbor BBQ Bonanza! On Sunday, August 20th, we’ll be playing with two other fine bands, The Gowlers & Hardscrabble, with lots of games and activities for the whole family… and the most amazing all-you-can-eat BBQ Buffet, all set up at a beautiful spot right on the shore of Lake Champlain at the magnificent Basin Harbor Resort in Vergennes. We’ll be playing at 6:30, by the way. See the attached handbill.

We have been invited back to the Stowe Mountain Concert Series (five years in a row!) on the City Hall Stage on the Church Street Marketplace. We’ll be playing a free concert on Thursday, September 7th from 5 pm. It’s always great fun hearing our songs bouncing off the walls of City Hall, the Church Street cobblestones and the Rambler pals who show up to enjoy dinner and our show.

And we have been invited back (for the fifth time in 20 years) to Headline the festivities on Vermont Day at the Eastern States Exposition, “The Big E,” on Saturday, September 23rd in West Springfield, MA. The Big E is the largest fair in New England, hosting over 1 Million visitors during its 17 day run. And Vermont Day has drawn the highest attendance numbers at the fair for many years. We’ll be playing from 1 to 4 in the afternoon on a special stage set up on the front lawn of the Vermont Bulding on the Avenue of States. Vermont Day is well worth the trip down to The Big E!

We’ll be playing a concert at the brand-spanking new Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro at the height of leaf-peeper season on Saturday, October 7th. We are thrilled to be invited to perform in what has to be one of Vermont’s finest performing arts venues. Here’s the chance to see Rick & The All-Star Rambers in a home-town setting, playing in a world-class concert hall.

The last thing I’ll just mention because there will be more details coming soon, we are holding our annual end-of-season concert/celebration in the fabulous Hotel Vermont’s Juniper Hall on Sunday, November 5th. Please mark that one down on your calendars!

Well, that’s it for now but I do want to leave you with two photos from a really wonderful experience I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago in St. Albans. Many of you noticed that Stephen Russell Payne dedicated my biography, “Riding My Guitar – The Rick Norcross Story,” to his friend Jonathan Edwards, who sang at Steve and Marietta’s wedding 30 years ago. And sure enough, Jonathan Edwards made a welcome return visit to Vermont to sing at their 30th Anniversary Party. It turns out Jonathan had read my biography and asked Steve to have me come and meet with him prior to his show. We talked and even swapped songs that afternoon. During his show, Jonathan invited me to the stage and asked me to sing one of my songs. He stayed up and sang terrific harmony with me on “I’m Gonna Take It With Me When I Go” off our new “Green Mountain Standard Time” CD. Then he asked me back up to sing harmony with him on his encore, the Jesse Collin Young song, “Get Together.” It was a real treat to spend time with and an unbelieveable priviledge to sing with Jonathan Edwards on stage.

Thank You,

Steve and Jonathan!