The Legendary RT and Sredni
Montebello, New York, United States | SELF
Music
Press
The Legendary RT and Sredni debut in NYC at Cin-M-Art Space 43 - Jonathan Slaff
CLIFFORD BABCOCK: I really dig your material. I'm just an ol' midwestern boy but these songs give me the NYC sense as I perceive it. It's great to discover such a gem in the much overworked field of the music industry. I would luv ta - Reverb Nation
SOUTHERN PEARLS: hey there, I may be country but i LOVE YOUR MUSIC! I could listen to this all night thank you so much... Nov 18
- Reverb Nation
Arthur Hine, aka RT, has been a quiet background influence in American recorded music for over 40 years. Along the way he had a record company (Armtrac Records), managed one of the greatest unknown bands in history (Sneaky Cookin’), and wrote songs for various artists, such as Howie Wyeth and Marianne Faithful. Nothing seemed to ever gel with his ironic lyrics, catchy tunes and off beat rhythms. A living legend and world renowned harmonica player, Woodstock artist Sredni Vollmer co-wrote and recorded the Philadelphia International hit song "No-Tell Motel" with Don Covey. He has recorded with Leslie West (Mountain), Rick Danko, Kinky Freedman, Colin Linden and many others. Sredni performed on stage with The Band, Hot Tuna, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Bob Dylan, and has been a member of groups like the Woodstock Mountains Revue and Sunshine and the Flashbacks. "
- Reverb Nation
Sredni Vollmer
Rick's Longtime Loyal--and Very Talented--Sideman
Anyone who followed Rick's career--and especially those who attended his live shows--in the '80s and '90s will remember Sredni Vollmer. For a good part of both decades, Sredni accompanied Rick--and sometimes The Band as well--as both a harmonica player and a backup/harmony singer.
If you were fortunate enough to have seen Rick and Sredni as a duo--a very frequent configuration-- you may remember Sred as highly animated, sometimes almost visually comical in his delivery--contorting his slim-as-a-whip body every which way as he found notes on that harp some of us didn't even know existed, long hair disheveled, eyes closed, one eyebrow raised as he belted out "Little Red Rooster" or "Walkin' Blues" while Rick happily accompanied him with his stacatto acoustic Tock-a-Meanie guitar, smiling from ear to ear as he watched Sredni channeling Joe Cocker.
I've always felt that Sredni's musicianship was underrated; he may have been, in some ways, a musical Tonto or Robin (though, somehow, I can't see Rick as a musical Lone Ranger or Batman), but he was so much more. Rick knew that and he appreciated it. And so did the audience. It was not unusual for fans to shout "SRED-NEE!" in between the many calls of "DANK-OH!!"--he had his own legion of fans.
Of all the musicians who accompanied Rick in a supportive capacity over the years, I think Sredni was one of the most talented, perhaps the most versatile, and definitely the most humble. Not only was he a great player, he also was secure enough in his own musicianship to play in a way that let Rick really shine. There was no ego trip. He was happy to take the "back seat," though Rick never treated him as a "passenger."
Rick talked about Sredni often in interviews, telling the world, in his goofy Rick Danko way, "he sounds just like an aviary."
Their on-stage rapport was a true give-and-take; as I've said before, Sred knew when to come on strong or take a solo, when to ride, when to hold back. He had an intuitive knack for knowing just where Rick was gonna go musically or vocally at any given moment--no easy task--and he just went for that ride so effortlessly.
Whenever I think of Sredni, I smile. If you haven't heard Rick with Sredni backing him, try to find some audio or video. You'll smile, too. - Sqidoo
Discography
Potpourri, The Legendary RT with Jeff Dawson and friends.
Photos
Bio
THE LEGENDARY RT AND SREDNI
I was born in "da Bronx". A good day there, was hanging out in the woods that surrounded the Bronx Zoo, or writing by the side of the Bronx River or Lake Agassiz (lol). Then I discovered that a subway train could take me to another Universe, and as a young teenager, I felt drawn to Greenwich Village. There, I ran into another kid from Brooklyn, Ned Carter (Edward Edelman), a folk and classical guitarist, who taught me how to play. We would play in Washington Square Park or the local coffee houses like The Rafio, The Fat Black Pussy Cat, Rienzi's, The Thirs Side, The Basement, The Cafe Wha? and others; Ned sang folk songs and I read my Beat Poetry. We would go to the Village Vanguard, the Five Spot, the Jazz Gallery, or Gerdes Folk City and catch sets by Thelonious Monk, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, John Lee Hooker, Dave van Ronk or the Rev, Gary Davis...all of whom infected my brain and influence my music still.
In the afternoons, we would hang out in Wasington Square, Izzy's (Israel Young) Folklore Center, or one of the stoops on MacDougal Street. We would listen to or play with, Richie Havens (and Splivy), Mike Manne, David Blue (Cohen), Karen Dalton, Dino Valenti, John Sebastian Jr., Bobby Dylan, Freddie Neil, Tom Paxton, Bob Gibson, Tim Hardin and many others who passed through the NY Folk and Blues Revival of the 1960's.
I grew up and started a record label, Armtrac Records, a music company, ROHO Music, a band, Sneaky Cooking and, after Marianne Faithful showed me the difference between a poem and a song, I began writing songs. After accumulating bad trips, with Columbia Records, drugs, band members dying...I forsook NY and the music scene and opened a gift store in the middle of nowhere with my wife, Kim. We raised two great kids, Naomi and Noah, out of the chaos which is the music scene.
The kids are now grown and I was wood-shedding in my kitchen, and A.J. Weberman asked me to open his reprise of a Be-In in Central Park (NYC). After my set, someone from The Villager (a local newspaper) asked me who I was. I did not think fast enough or clever enough and so I became RT. After playing Frankie D's intermission at Olive's in Nyack for about a year, I made a CD (Potpourri) and added Frankie's intro: the best solo act I ever heard (LOL; he is prone to hyperbole!), the legendary RT. That is how I became The Legendary RT.
Sredni had played with Sneaky Cooking, (as did Michael and, occasionally Randy, Brecker, Mick Ronson, Rob Stoner, Howie Wyeth, Doane Perry, Tony Caniff, Angie Howell (Barton), Jocelyn Brown, Rona Wyeth Barrow, Chrissy Faith; we played with Stuff (Cornell Dupre), Orleans, Stormin' Norman et al). He went on to play with The Band, Don Covay, Rick Danko, Otis Rush, Corky Lang, Leslie West, Danny Kalb, Dr. John, Mick Ronson, Kinky Friedman, Mississippi Fred McDowell, NRPS, Buddy Cage, Gene Clark, Paul Butterfield, Rashid Ali, Hot Tuna, Happy Traum, Andy Bobinson, and others...When I found out he still lived near Woodstock, we got together. The result is The Legendary RT and Sredni and Friends, whose music you will find here and on youtube and in a venue near you soon.
Band Members
Links
