The Whiskey Rebellion

Richmond Times Dispatch – Thursday, September 6, 2007 WHISKEY REBELLION TIME – Going beyond bluegrass and studio recordings By Bill CraigWhile Most of America was observing the Labor Day holiday weekend, Roy Myers, Ryan Phillips, Mary Simpson, and David Cosper were celebrating their 100th show as The Whiskey Rebellion with a performance in Manteo, NC The four musicians connected two summers ago at the Maury River Fiddler’s Convention in Buena Vista, VA. At the time, Myers and Phillips were playing some shows around Richmond; Simpson and Cosper were in Charlottesville, studying music at the University of Virginia. The Richmond Boys invited Simpson and Cosper to head east for a few gigs, and the band was born. Give just a casual listen the The Whiskey Rebellion’s recently released, self-titled debut album, and you’ll be tempted to plug the Quartet into the category reserved for pure bluegrass. While Phillips says bluegrass is the members’ common denominator, there’s much more to The Whiskey Rebellion than twang and high lonesome. Simpson has played bluegrass for most of her life, but she is also a classically trained violinist. Cosper, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctoral candidate at U.Va., is a jazz musician whose introduction to bluegrass came after his move to Charlottesville. Myers, who contributes banjo to the quartet’s sound, studied classical guitar at Virginia Commonwealth University. Though he has spent a lot of time around folk music, Phillips brings some rock ‘n’ roll soul to the Whiskey Rebellion table. “My songwriting influences include Johnny Cash at the top of the list, along with old folk recordings, Phillips said. “But I also used to play electric guitar. I loved Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Dead. Jerry Garcia had a huge influence by bringing folk music to the masses with the band Old and in the Way and his other work in the Dead and the Garcia/Grisman stuff. I was brought into this music through those channels and have not looked back since.” Highlighted by the dark “Baggin’ Maggie” and the rustic charm of “Eight Ways” and “Forget Me Not,” the new album’s track list includes 11 Phillips originals, one tune written by Myers, a pair from Cosper, and a traditional fiddle tune. As compelling as the record is, fans who come out for an up-close-and-personal listen get rewarded with something extra. “The CD is a little different than our shows,” Phillips said. “Our shows consist of a mix of originals, bluegrass standards and random Cover Songs such as Hendrix, Gnarls Barkley, The Beatles, Dylan, and Johnny Cash.” Those who were paying attention in U.S. History class know that the whiskey Rebellion represents the unhappy reaction of whiskey makers to a tax imposed by the federal government during George Washington’s presidency. So how did this historic event end up being a band name? “We were practicing music at Roy’s house on Floyd Avenue years ago when we glanced over at the TV,” Phillips said. “There was a special on about the Whiskey Rebellion. We had been looking around for a name and that one stuck.” After tomorrow night’s CD release show at the Capital Ale House Music Hall, the Whiskey Rebellion will open for The Seldom Scene at Swingin’ on the Tracks on Sep.20 at the Science Museum of Virginia.