Artist description Country Cavaliers is a musical endeavor undertaken and completed in Tucson, Arizona. The music has the open purity of a down-home family reunion, and you're invited! Pull up a chair, play along, sing! The mp3 files here on Mp3.com are selections from two run-on studio sessions done in 2002. 79 minutes of those sessions are now availible on Writhing Records and Country Cavaliers debut release, Grandma Powered.

Music Style Traditional Country, Old Time, Bluegrass, Hills-Old Country, Hills-Old Folk

Musical Influences Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Mike Seeger, Uncle Dave Macon

Similar Artists Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Mike Seeger, Uncle Dave Macon

Artist History Country Cavaliers consists of Mel Davis on guitar, Ron Riggs on dobro, Ruth Smith (Grandma) on washboards and whistle and Matt Weber on banjo. Country Cavaliers can also be seen performing in an alternate line-up called Rockytop which has performed at such Tucson, Arizona venues as the Rialto Theatre and the Red Barn Theatre. Mel Davis: Guitar, Vocals Mel was born in 1936 in Wickeburg, Arizona, son of a gold miner. The family lived in various rural locales and he learned to swim in the family farm's irrigation ditch. His mother bought him a Martin guitar for $60 while he was at Tucson High School, from which he graduated in 1954. He began slowly accumulating a flat-picking style from friends he met throughout his life. Mel served in the Navy near the end of Korean War and returned to Arizona after duty. He earned a living digging for old bottles and token coins in Arizona ghost towns, some treasures fetching thousands. Later Mel worked as a mechanic at a number of Tucson laundries, starting at a dollar per hour. Eventually Mel began hauling scrap metal with other members of his family. The desert was filled with junk cars they would find and take to metal recyclers. Mel would cut cars into pieces with an axe. Mel continues to haul scrap to this day, winching autos by hand. The current going rate for scrap metal is a penny per pound. Matt Weber: Banjo, Vocals Matt was born in 1971 in Washington D.C. He came to Tucson for graduate school seeking a degree in hydrology after which he decided to learn how to play the banjo for no particular reason. One sunny day in 1999 as he was working on his car in the street, he overheard a fellow who lived in an Airstream trailer in a nearby alley speaking with biker clients coming out of an adjacent tatoo parlor. The man had a banjo for sale. He also had a dog named Red Dog who tried to bite Matt, but Matt did not allow the agressive mutt to color his decision to purchase the banjo. Later, Matt moved to the Dunbar/Spring neighborhood where he met Rosemary Snow who eventually asked him if he'd like to play in a bluegrass band. It was there that Matt met Mel, Ron, and Grandma. He was subsequently offered a generous mentorship, and was soon accompanying them at gigs. Ron Riggs: Dobro, Vocals Ronnie was born in 1940 in Cory, Pennsylvania, on a 168 acre farm. In 1945 the family came West and settled in Phoenix, Arizona around 1955. Ronnie received his first guitar at the age of eleven, having attracted the attention of his parents by air-strumming brooms around the house. Ronnie moved to Tucson in 1966 and worked at several restaurants and other odd jobs. He was employed as a janitor at the Fox Theater in downtown Tucson for a good while. Ronnie met Grandma in 1978, happening upon her and her husband while they worked in their yard. They have been good friends ever since. Ronnie switched from guitar to dobro in 1998 favoring the twangy sound. Ruth Smith (Grandma): Washboard, Train Whistle Ruth is of Irish and Scottish ancestry. Her parents immigrated to Yuma from Canada for the climate. Her father worked on the Laguna Dam, the first on the lower Colorado River, and began homesteading in 1905, finally securing 120 acres. Ruth was the last of seven children, born in 1914. She graduated Salutatorian from Yuma High School and was encouraged to enter the University of Arizona. She lived in Pima Hall, then a residence for women of limited means, and graduated in 1936 with a Major in Bacteriology, a Minor in Zoology, and a second Minor in Chemistry. She met her husband Wally, while both worked at the Arizona State Mental Hospital in Phoenix. During the depression, Wally became a train conductor and the pair lived in various locations around the State but eventually moved back to Tucson in 1954. Ruth began playing the train whistle to accompany Ronnie's guitar at gigs and later picked up the washboard. She has been musically inclined for her entire life and still has the 1906 Stanley and Sons piano that was shipped from New York, around South America, and up the Colorado River to her childood home in Yuma, Arizona. Ruth has six children, eight grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. Grandma is the backbone of the band, the heart and soul that keeps us all together. Rare is the evenigng at Grandma's house not topped off with a generous dish of ice cream or fruit salad. She celebrated her 89th birthday in January 2003 and credits music for her longevity. She says it keeps her ornery.

Instruments Guitar, Banjo, Dobro, Train Whistle, Washboards

Albums Grandma Powered

Location Tucson, AZ - USA

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