The Okra All-Stars

In the early 1990s, a quartet of prominent musicians tied to the now-defunct Ohio imprint Okra Records united under the Okra All-Stars name to record a joint project. Dave Schramm of The Schramms and Yo La Tengo joined forces with Jeb Loy Nichols from Fellow Travellers, Ricky Barnes of the Hoot Owls, and Hank McCoy from Dead Ringers, supported by mandolinist Jeff Vogelgesang and fiddler Sandy Jones. Their self-titled album, held back from broad distribution until its 1999 appearance on San Francisco’s Innerstate Records, pursued the same spirit that guided the Byrds’ landmark country effort Sweetheart of the Rodeo, bringing together relatively young, non-country performers eager to explore traditional country and roots repertoire. The set revisited material by the Louvin Brothers, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens, notably including the latter’s “I Wouldn't Live in New York City.” An easygoing, playful atmosphere pervaded the sessions, nowhere more evident than in the album’s exuberant closing track—a bluegrass rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”