Ramseur Records
Ramseur Records
Ramseur Records is a music management company and independent record label based in North Carolina, founded in 2000 by Dolph Ramseur.
Dolph Ramseur grew up on a dirt road about 10 miles outside of Davidson and was lucky when, as a youngster, the Davidson College tennis coach showed an interest in him and helped him improve his game. Throughout his teenage years, he played tennis, meeting other teens at matches across the U.S., and regularly falling asleep at night listening to “a diverse range of music” on the Davidson College radio station, WDAV. Ramseur also collected 45 records and LPs, frequenting independent record stores across North Carolina.[1]
“I was always a music nut, always collected music when I was a kid. I loved acoustic and traditional music, but I also gravitated to all the great punk and British rock that was coming out, anything that was real and honest.” [1]
"We're really just trying to turn people on to music that we love. I still feel like a kid in my bedroom making mixtapes for people."[2] “We’re basically in this thing because we love the music.”[3]
History
A 20-year-old Dolph studying marketing and professional tennis management at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. He came across a story about singer/songwriter Martin Stephenson in the British magazine Melody Maker. Stephenson mentioned that he was interested in the music of the rural American South. That was something Ramseur knew a lot about, so he called England and left a message on Stephenson’s answering machine. Did he need a manager, a publicist, an equipment boy, anything that might propel a young fan into the business? “That freaked me out,” Stephenson later told a Scottish online arts journal. “At first I thought it was a mate winding me up, so I just erased the message.” Ten years would pass before Ramseur, by then working as a tennis pro at Cabarrus Country Club, got in touch with him again. “I found out that we had a common interest in old-time string music and bluegrass,” Stephenson recalled, “and we actually started interacting through e-mail.”[1]
In July 2000, Martin Stephenson flew to Concord with a recorder and the two traveled the state to record Stephenson playing music with such N.C. musicians as Etta Baker, David Childers and Sammy Walker. "North Carolina is one of the centers of the universe for music," Ramseur explains, "and Martin (Stephenson) looked at it like that. I had made some calls and set up some shows for him. I also arranged for him to play with some old-time Piedmont Blues musicians."[4]"They were just field recordings," Ramseur says. "But I learned a lot about the music business from doing them and from talking to Martin".
David Childers
One of North Carolina's greatest songwriters David Childers performed at the Double Door Inn in Charlotte, NC on July 2000. Dolph Ramseur was in attendance, introduced himself and let David known he wanted to work with him, “He gave me all his contacts, and I found out a little bit about how to do publicity and how to book shows. He knew I was in this for the right reasons. It wasn’t for the money. It was to do the right thing. In July 2002 David Childers album Blessed in an Unusual Way was the first release on Ramseur Records. David Childers is still managed and has had several more releases on Ramseur Records.
The Avett Brothers
My best career move was taking my momʼs advice and checking out the Avett Brothers,” he says, recalling his motherʼs 2002 suggestion to hear that group play. “They sing off key and they play out of tune, but theyʼve got something special. I canʼt describe the Avett Brothers and thatʼs how I knew they were something special.” [1]
"What struck me were the original songs," Ramseur says. "The live shows take people on a roller coaster of emotions. It can go from a whisper to a scream very quickly."[5]
September 2002 at the Wine Vault in Charlotte, NC, Dolph first saw The Avett Brothers perform. Ramseur Records would release thier album A Carolina Jubilee in 2003 and Ramseur still manages The Avett Brothers today, and thier 2024 Self Titled album along with 2025's collaboration album with Mike Patton AVTT/PTTN were releaed on Ramseur Records.
Artists
Ramseur artists have played at some of the largest music festivals in the country like Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Stagecoach, Austin City Limits, New Orleans Jazz Fest and have headlined and sold out prestigious venues including Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Barclays Center, Boston Garden. They have performed live on the Grammy Awards, Grand Ole Opry, and numerous late-night and daytime talk shows. Ramseur’s independent releases have charted four albums on the Billboard top 200.
Artists managed by Ramseur Records today are: The Avett Brothers, Amythyst Kiah, David Childers, Jack Blocker, Amelia Day, Big Richard, Heartless Bastards, and Colby T. Helms.
Discography
| Catalog | Artist | Record Name | Format | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RR2701 | David Childers | Blessed in an Unusual Way | CD | 2002 | |
| RR2702 | Stanly County Boys | Patchwork Kimono | CD | 2003 | |
| RR2703 | The Avett Brothers | A Carolina Jubilee | CD | 2003 | |
| RR2704 | Martin Stephenson | The Haunt of the Budded Rose | CD | 2003 | |
| RR2705 | David Childers | Room 23 | CD | 2003 | |
| RR2706 | Oh What a Nightmare | Oh What a Nightmare | CD | 2004 | |
| RR2707 | The Avett Brothers | Swept Away (Single) | CD | 2004 | |
| RR2708 | The Avett Brothers | Mignonette | CD | 2004 | Vinyl release 2024 |
| RR2709 | The Avett Brothers | Live Vol. 2 | CD | 2005 | |
| RR2710 | The Avett Brothers | Four Thieves Gone | CD | 2006 | Vinyl release 2012 |
| RR2711 | Bombadil | Bombadil | CD | 2006 | |
| RR2712 | The Avett Brothers | The Gleam | CD | 2006 | |
| RR2713 | Timothy Seth Avett as Darling | The Mourning the Silver the Bell | CD | 2005 | |
| New Jersey Transient | New Jersey Transient | CD | 2006 | ||
| Martin Stephenson | Hell's Half Acre | CD | 2007 | ||
| RR2715 | The Everybodyfields | Nothing is Okay | CD | 2007 | |
| RR2716 | The Avett Brothers | Emotionalism | CD | 2007 | Released on vinyl in 2010 |
| RR2721 | Samantha Crain | The Confiscation | CD | 2007 | |
| RR2723 | Sammy Walker | Misfit Scarecrow | CD | 2007 | |
| RR2724 | The Avett Brothers | The Second Gleam | CD/LP | 2008 | |
| RR2726 | Jim Avett & the family | Jim Avett & the family | CD | 2008 | |
| RR2727 | Samantha Crain | Songs in the Night | CD | 2009 | |
| RR2728 | Paleface | The Show is on the Road | CD | 2009 | |
| RR2729 | Bombadil | Tarpits and Canyonlands | CD | 2009 | Vinyl release 2014 |
| RR2730 | Paul Burch | Still Your Man | CD | 2009 | |
| RR2731 | The Duke & The King | Nothing Gold Can Stay | CD | 2009 | |
| RR2732 | Over Mountain Men | Over Mountain Men | CD | 2010 | |
| RR2738 | Frontier Ruckus | Deadmalls & Nightfalls | CD | 2010 | |
| RR2735 | Sam Quinn and the Japan Ten | The Fake That Sunk a Thousand Ships | CD | 2010 | |
| Bombadil | All That The Rain Promises | CD | 2011 | ||
| RR2740 | Various Artists | My Favorite Gifts | CD | 2011 | |
| RR2736 | Jim Avett | Tribes | CD | ||
| RR2737 | Mimi Goese & Ben Neill | Songs for Persephone | CD | 2011 | |
| Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys | Back at the Quonset Hut | CD/LP | 2012 | ||
| RR2741 | Samantha Crain | A Simple Jungle | 7" | 2012 | |
| David Childers & The Bank Cormorants | Madonna & Rose | CD | 2012 | ||
| Jim Avett | Second Chance | CD | 2012 | ||
| RR2753 | Langhorne Slim | The Way We Move | CD/LP | 2012 | |
| RR2802 | Bombadil | Metrics of Affection | CD | 2013 | |
| RR2800 | Samantha Crain | Kid Face | CD/LP | 2013 | |
| Overmountain Men | The Next Best Thing | CD | 2013 | ||
| RR9990 | David Childers | Serpents of Reformation | CD/LP | 2014 | |
| RRb0771 | Bombadil | Hold On | CD/LP | 2015 | |
| RR99991 | Seth Avett / Jessica Lea Mayfield | Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith | CD/LP | 2015 | |
| Bombadil | Still Bombadil Issue #1: Score for Cell Phone, Rubber Band & Wine Glass | CD | 2015 | ||
| RR327111 | Liz Vice | There's a Light | CD/LP | 2015 | |
| Samantha Crain | Under Branch and Thorn and Tree | CD/LP | 2015 | ||
| RR197527 | Sammy Walker | Brown Eyed Georgia Darlin' | LP | 2016 | |
| RAM1-811 | Josh White | Josh at Midnight (1956 reissue) | LP | 2016 | |
| RR034314 | Bombadil | Fences | LP | 2017 | |
| RR2143348 | Jim Avett and Family | For His Children and Ours | CD/LP | 2017 | |
| RR251288 | Timothy Seth Avett as Darling | IV | LP | 2017 | |
| RR214371 | David Childers | Run Skeleton Run | LP | 2017 | |
| RR482833 | Samantha Crain | You Had Me at Goodbye | LP | 2017 | |
| RR021964 | Ruen Brothers | All My Shades of Blue | LP | 2018 | |
| RR778900 | The National Reserve | Motel La Grange | LP | 2018 | |
| RR212588 | Steep Canyon Rangers | Out in the Open | LP | 2018 | |
| RR6879903 | Bombadil | Country | LP | 2018 | |
| RR289215 | Jim Avett | Take It From Me | LP | 2019 | |
| RR214316 | Samantha Crain | A Small Death | LP | 2020 | |
| RR214316 | Clem Snide | Forever Just Beyond | LP | 2020 | |
| RR195964 | David Childers & The Serpents | Interstate Lullaby | LP | 2020 | |
| RR2020667 | Jim Avett | Trains Don't Come Here Anymore | LP | 2021 | |
| RR442288 | Bryan Rahija | Timber | LP | 2021 | |
| RR7021949 | Seth Avett | Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown | CD/LP | 2022 | |
| Bombadil | In Color | LP | 2023 | ||
| RR777317 | David Childers | Melancholy Angel | LP | 2023 | |
| RR741776 | The Avett Brothers | The Avett Brothers | CD/LP | 2024 | |
| RR773403 | The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton | AVTT/PTTN | CD/LP | 2025 |
This article "Ramseur Records" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ramseur Records. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Black-Gold, Tania (November 11, 20098). ""Something special/ Through his record label, Dolph Ramseur has helped Avett Brothers get noticed"". Salisbury Post. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Frater, Bill (August 4, 2017). "Dolph Ramseur on Managing Music 'for Folks'". No Depression.
- ↑ Kemp, Mark (March 1, 2007). "Indie dependent: Dolph Ramseur keeps harmony with the Avett Brothers". Business North Carolina. Archived from the original
|archive-url=requires|url=(help) on|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help). - ↑ "How a Music Nut Cracked the Music Business to Launch the Avett Brothers". October 9, 2008.
- ↑ "Smells Like Twang Spirit". Style Weekly. June 14, 2006.
