New Lost City Ramblers
| Company type | Musical ensemble |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1958 in New York City, United States |
| Founder | Mike Seeger, John Cohen, Tom Paley |
| Defunct | 2019 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Old-time string band music recordings and performances |
The New Lost City Ramblers (NLCR) was an American ensemble specializing in old-time string band music, established in New York City in 1958 amid the folk revival movement. The group’s original lineup consisted of Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, with Tracy Schwarz stepping in for Paley in 1962. Seeger passed away in 2009, Paley in 2017, Cohen in 2019, and Schwarz in 2025. NLCR played a significant part in revitalizing old-time music and left a lasting influence on subsequent generations of musicians.
Career
The Ramblers set themselves apart by emphasizing genuine traditional playing techniques derived from recordings of the 1920s and 1930s, many of which appeared on the Anthology of American Folk Music. In contrast to contemporaneous folk acts like the Weavers or Kingston Trio, they deliberately avoided diluting southern musical elements, aiming to preserve an authentic sound. Rather than mimicking their immediate predecessors who popularized folk styles, the trio sought to evoke the original artists such as Gid Tanner And His Skillet Lickers and the Carolina Tar Heels. Although their music drew heavily from historic recordings, they did not simply replicate them but blended different old-time traditions without being bound by exact reproduction.
The name "New Lost City Ramblers" was proposed by Moe Asch, inspired by a combination of J. E. Mainer's "New Lost Train Blues," Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, alongside their own urban performance setting.
On the album Songs from the Depression, NLCR presented politically charged songs from the New Deal period, primarily sourced from commercial 78 rpm records; an exception was "Keep Moving," which originated from Tony Schwartz's archive and was actually performed by Agnes "Sis" Cunningham. This oversight led Ry Cooder to initially label it as Traditional on his Into the Purple Valley album before later correcting the attribution. Cooder also covered several other tracks associated with NLCR, occasionally miscrediting songwriters due to errors in labeling.
Bob Dylan commended NLCR’s approach and authenticity in his memoir Chronicles: Volume One, highlighting their innovative qualities despite their faithful renditions of older recordings.
The ensemble gradually dissolved toward the end of the 1960s; subsequently, Schwarz and Seeger formed the brief-lived Strange Creek Singers.
Their extensive body of work recorded for Folkways Records was incorporated into the Smithsonian Institution archives following Moe Asch’s passing and continues to be reissued regularly.
It is reported that John Cohen served as inspiration for the character “John” in the Grateful Dead’s 1970 song "Uncle John's Band".
Discography
- The New Lost City Ramblers (1958) (Folkways Records)
- Songs from the Depression (1959) (Folkways)
- Old-Timey Songs For Children (1959) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. II (1960) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. III (1961) (Folkways)
- Tom Paley, John Cohen, Mike Seeger Sing Songs of The New Lost City Ramblers (1961)
- The New Lost City Ramblers (1961)
- Earth Is Earth Sung by The New Lost City Bang Boys (1961) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. 4 (1962) (Folkways)
- American Moonshine & Prohibition (1962) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. 5 (1963) (Folkways)
- Gone to the Country (1963) (Folkways)
- Radio Special # 1 (1963)
- The New New Lost City Ramblers with Tracy Schwarz: Gone to the Country (1963) (Folkways)
- String Band Instrumentals (1964) (Folkways)
- Old Timey Music (1964)
- Rural Delivery No. 1 (1965) (Folkways)
- Remembrance of Things to Come (1966) (Folkways)
- Modern Times (1968) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy (1968) (Folkways)
- On the Great Divide (1975) (Folkways)
- 20th Anniversary Concert (1978) (Flying Fish)
- 20 Years-Concert Performances (1978) (Flying Fish)
- Tom Paley, John Cohen, and Mike Seeger Sing Songs of the New Lost City Ramblers (1978) (Folkways)
- Old Time Music (1994) (Vanguard)
- The Early Years, 1958-1962 (1991) (Smithsonian Folkways)
- Out Standing In Their Field-Vol. II, 1963-1973 (1993) (Smithsonian Folkways)
- There Ain't No Way Out (1997) (Smithsonian Folkways)
- 40 Years of Concert Performances (Rounder Select) (2001)
- 50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go? (2009) (Smithsonian Folkways)
Solo albums by Mike Seeger
- The Second Annual Farewell Reunion (1973) (Mercury Records) – includes “Blues in a Bottle” featuring Mike on fiddle and vocals, John on banjo-mandolin, and Tracy on resonator guitar
- Third Annual Farewell Reunion (1994) (Rounder Records) – contains “Bound Steel Blues” with Mike performing banjo and vocals, John on guitar, and Tracy playing fiddle
External links
- Illustrated discography of The New Lost City Ramblers
- Illustrated discography for Tom Paley
- Smithsonian Folkways Recordings discography
- Interview featuring John Cohen & Tom Paley on NLCR's 50th anniversary
- Documentary film about The New Lost City Ramblers including Mike Seeger, John Cohen, Tom Paley, Tracy Schwarz, and others
- NPR radio segment commemorating the 50th anniversary of The New Lost City Ramblers
- Tribute video from Oldtone Roots Music Festival by Fred Robbins
- Photographs of The New Lost City Ramblers at Davidson College, May 1968 by Fred Robbins
- Live recording of The New Lost City Ramblers at Towne Crier Cafe, Beekman, NY, February 24, 1975 by Fred Robbins