Dry Branch Fire Squad

Dry Branch Fire Squad operates today as a bluegrass outfit devoted to the preservation of bluegrass, old-time, and Southern gospel traditions. Mandolinist and comedian Ron Thomason launched the ensemble in 1976. Its first configuration featured guitarist John Baker, banjo player Robert Leach, and bassist John Carpenter. Mary Jo Leet entered as lead vocalist two years afterward. A succession of independent recordings preceded the 1978 signing with Rounder, the storied roots imprint that would serve as the band’s exclusive home for the remainder of its existence.

Rounder continued to issue the group’s albums through the 1980s, among them the 1985 set Good Neighbours & Friends and the gospel-oriented Golgotha released the next year. The 1996 concert document Live! At Last presented Thomason, guitarist Adam McIntosh, and banjoist Dan Russell, with Mary Jo Leet now sharing vocal parts with her husband Charlie, who supplied harmonies and acoustic bass. That performance captured the Fire Squad’s commitment to classic bluegrass and broader Americana forms as well as its taste for boisterous comedy. Memories That Bless & Burn surfaced in 1999, interleaving older songs with new compositions and spotlighting vocalist Suzanne Thomas. Hand Hewn followed in 2001 while the band sustained its standing on the bluegrass and folk festival circuit. Rounder brought out a second live recording, the double-disc Live at the Newburyport Firehouse, in 2005. Thirtieth Anniversary Special, a 2007 retrospective containing four new tracks, preceded the entirely fresh Echoes of the Mountains in 2009.