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<br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
<br />RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION FOR
<br />TOMMY THOMPSON OF THE RED CLAY RAMBLERS
<br />WHEREAS: Tommy Thompson was born in West Virginia in 1937, graduating from Kenyon College
<br />in 1959, and spending the next four years as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard in New
<br />Orleans, the cradle of jazz; and,
<br />WHEREAS: In 1966, while pursuing a graduate degree in Philosophy at the University of North
<br />Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tommy Thompson and his banjo formed the Hollow Rock String
<br />Band, devoted to the old-time dance music of the southern Appalachian Mountains; and,
<br />WHEREAS: In 1972, Bill Hicks, Jim Watson and Tommy Thompson formed The Red Clay Ramblers,
<br />a band that was characterized by its distinctive Tar Heel sound; and,
<br />WHEREAS: Marcia Wilson, founder of the Cat's Cradle, which was the only music venue club in the
<br />area that provided a stage setting, and who enthusiastically encouraged the regular solo
<br />performances of Tommy Thompson and with the Red Clay Ramblers; and,
<br />WHEREAS: The Red Clay Ramblers' fusion of bluegrass, folk, blues and Vaudeville helped the band
<br />develop a unique, eclectic style, that helped the Ramblers develop a wide following of
<br />devoted fans from the United States to Canada, and through Europe to the Middle East
<br />and Africa; and,
<br />WHEREAS: In 1975, Tommy Thompson and the Ramblers joined the off-Broadway cast of Diamond
<br />Studs, a musical about the life of Jesse James, where Thompson earned critical acclaim
<br />for his portrayal of Cole Younger and Jesse James' mother, Zerelda Samuels; and,
<br />WHEREAS: The Ramblers headlined the first Festival for the Eno in 1980 and became even more
<br />popular when they were introduced to the national audience of public radio through their
<br />performances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion; and,
<br />WHEREAS: The Red Clay Ramblers appeared on Broadway and enjoyed a long association with
<br />writer/director Sam Shepard, who cast them as the medicine show band in his 1993
<br />movie, Silent Tongue, and,
<br />WHEREAS: In September 1994, Tommy Thompson played his last gig with the Ramblers at
<br />Carrboro's ArtsCenter; and,
<br />WHEREAS: Tommy Thompson's drop-thumb clawhammer fell silent on January 24, 2003, when this
<br />talented, larger-than-life figure of North Carolina musical lore, passed on to heaven,
<br />"...just across the Blue Ridge where the high meadows lay, and the galax spreads
<br />through the new mown hay";
<br />NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Orange County Board of Commissioners celebrates the
<br />outstanding creative, cultural and intellectual contributions of Tommy Thompson's life
<br />and his deeply rooted commitment to civil rights and progressive achievements during his
<br />- - life,-and-mourns the-loss-of~his-great-cultural resource, who-c-arne~o-represe~~ the~nuss --
<br />of the Tar Heel State to a worldwide audience.
<br />This the twenty-fourth day of March, 2003.
<br />Margaret W. Brown, Chair
<br />Board of County Commissioners
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