Rooted in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, the Po' Ramblin' Boys formed an energetic traditional bluegrass combo that launched in the mid-2010s as the house band for a local moonshine distillery. Within several years the group expanded its reach through two self-released projects and a European tour, which led to a contract with Rounder and the 2019 arrival of their third album, Toil, Tears & Trouble.
Mandolinist and singer C.J. Lewandowski worked at the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery in Sevierville, Tennessee, where he occasionally substituted for absent performers. Management eventually asked him to assemble a permanent ensemble, prompting him to enlist friends Jereme Brown on banjo and Josh Rinkle on guitar along with fellow employee Jasper Lorentzen on bass. The Po' Ramblin' Boys began performing multiple nights each week at the distillery during their first eighteen months, steadily compiling a repertoire of traditional bluegrass numbers and original material while cultivating a loyal audience. Their debut album, Back to the Mountains, appeared in 2016 and coincided with initial out-of-town shows that included a Canadian festival and the European tour. In 2018 they issued God's Love Is So Divine, a collection drawn from traditional bluegrass gospel songs that had shaped their sound. Growing acclaim brought them to the attention of the historic roots imprint Rounder, which signed the band and issued the Grammy-nominated Toil, Tears & Trouble in the Best Bluegrass Album category at the 62nd annual Grammy awards.
