The Rosemont Family Reunion

The Rosemonts were united at a happenstance meeting during the Great Rosemont Family Reunion of ’04 in Dahlonega, Georgia – Kyle Rosemont, paterfamilias of the Florida Rosemont clan, had brought up a small Airstream filled with instruments for tomfoolery and merriment during the reunion proper. Lissy Rosemont, second cousin twice removed from the Georgia Rosemont clan, (widely known for both her aversion to footwear, and her vocal prowess, which was unparalleled south of the Mason-Dixon line)) happened upon the hulking aluminum beast and struck up a conversation with its owner, whom she found picking Carter Family songs on its roof.

The two Rosemonts, who had previously never met (Kyle being of the Rosemont branch banished from the family in the mid 20s for an unfortunate dynamite accident) had found their opposing musical halves, and the two hatched a plan to document their tonal vision in a form more permanent.

Upon moving to Washington DC (womb of America, city of monochromatic monuments) the duo began recording material in earnest for the LP to be entitled Forever Ruth (that to which this text seeks to describe and detail). Through the good graces of the Washington DC music community and many flexible roommates, the record was rendered over a year and a half in a Columbia Heights basement recording studio. Over 11 musical structures, the album maps the bloodlines of American music, combining folk, electric blues, jazz, and experimental manipulation - documenting a hybrid form that is uniquely American, indeed, uniquely Rosemont.

Upon the record’s completion, a touring band was assembled to perform to acclaim and accolade across these United States. In a turn that can only be explained by divine intervention, two other Rosemonts happened to be finding residence in the greater metro area at that time – Jason and Shareef Rosemont (bass and percussion, respectively) - brothers from the Virginia Rosemont clan who had landed in the DC area after bussing around the lower 48 as a crack rhythm section for hire. The bonds of family rekindled, the group undertook an enthusiastic rehearsal schedule destined to bring smiles to faces from St. Louis to Kalamazoo.