Sad news here. This was posted in the Tallahassee Democrat today. Local musicians are probably aware but I'll add more after the show for distant fans. Never did nail down the players on the jams here but I'm pretty sure it was Pat on tracks 11 and 12. ---------------- October 24, 2008 Blues-rock blowout will benefit harp hero By Kati Schardl DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER The first time I heard Crosscut Saw play was at one of the infamous Pepper Drive Tune-Ups back in the dim and murky mists of time (i.e., the late '70s and early '80s). The Tune-Ups were the Tallahassee urban Southern-rock equivalent of modern-day music festivals that sprawl over several days in bucolic settings. My memories of the events are a jumble, but the incendiary blues-rock of Crosscut Saw cuts through the fog even decades later. The Saw that I saw was the tick-tight four piece of bassist Mike Howell, drummer Steve Howell, insanely gifted guitarist Julien Kasper and harmonica maestro Pat Ramsey . They became a quartet of road warriors. "Pat and Crosscut Saw played every juke joint and roadhouse from Key West to Connecticut. They opened for B.B. King (twice), Johnny Winter, Johnny Van Zandt, .38 Special, Bobby Bland, The Nighthawks and others," according to the bio on Ramsey's MySpace page. Before disbanding in 1984, Crosscut Saw released its one and only album, "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know." Kasper went on the study jazz guitar and now teaches at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. After playing some opening dates on Johnny Winter's 1987 tour (he had contributed the searing harp licks for Winter's "White, Hot & Blue" album), Ramsey moved to Sarasota to dry out and clean up. The time off did him a world of good. Ramsey roared back on the music scene clean, sober and ready to rock with the Poulos-Ramsey Band, formed with former Freddie King guitarist Greg Poulos. When that group disbanded, Ramsey settled for a time in Memphis, busking on Beale Street and making a name for himself in that iconic musical city. With Kasper's help, he got together enough money to record and release "It's About Time" and launch the next phase of his musical journey. Through the years, Ramsey, Kasper and the Howells would gather in Tallahassee to host Crosscut Saw reunion shows that drew Pepper Drive veterans out of the woods and the woodwork. They were full-on family affairs with a blues-rock soundtrack. "For a lot of people that come out, I think the music is almost secondary," drummer Howell, who still performs in Tallahassee, told the Democrat in 1995. It's fitting that the Pepper Drive family will come together one more time tonight at the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella for a night of music and memory to help raise money for Ramsey, who's in grave health and was recently released from hospice care. Like many who have made their living making music, Ramsey has no health insurance. Ever since word got out that the benefit was in the works, bands and musicians have clamored to be added to the lineup, according to lead organizer Steve Howell. The outpouring of support and good wishes has been monumental. The event starts at 5 p.m. and admission is a suggested donation of $10. There'll be food, a silent auction, raffles, drawings and more music than you can shake a licking stick (slang for harmonica, y'all) at, much of it performed by longtime leading lights of the local scene. Ramsey will be there and may even feel up to getting up onstage to sing a song or blow a few bars on harp. Kasper is flying in from Boston. Guitarist Chris Anderson of The Outlaws is flying in from Nashville. There's a host of other special guests. Premier Sound & Lights and Reel Rock Productions will be there making sure the sound is right on. Here's who's playing: Brett Wellman, Trigger Happy, Roadhouse, the Ray Wiley Band, Young Neils, JB's ZydecoZoo and the Rick Lollar Band . The evening ends with a jam-up big bang with Ramsey's band the Blues Disciples with Friends of Pat Ramsey , including Clyde Ramsey (Pat's son, who named his band Pepper Drive), Choo Choo Charley, Jerry Thigpen & Lucia Fishburne, Floyd Mathews, Greg Poulos, Mike Howell, Chris Anderson, Julien Kasper and many more. Want to contribute but can't make it to the show? Donations can be sent to J.P. Ramsey, P.O. Box 21147, Tallahassee 32316-1147. ------------------------------------- via Tally Democrat via Steve James Patrick Ramsey, 55, died Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at the Hospice House in Tallahassee, Fla., after a long illness. The service will be held at noon on Saturday at the Loyal Order of the Moose, 1478 Capital Circle N.W. The phone number at the lodge is 575-4226. The family will receive friends at the south side entrance of the Moose lodge on Saturday. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and musician, who was born in Shreveport, La., on July 22, 1953, to Beverly Jean and James Patton Ramsey. Pat began playing harmonica at the age of 17. Renowned for his incendiary work on Johnny Winter's "White Hot & Blue" album, Pat has been called "a harp player's harp player." He left so many memories and they all can be shared and new ones added at his Web site www.patramsey.com. Survivors include wife Debbie Ramsey, sons Clyde and Jimmy, daughter-in-law Carly Ramsey, granddaughter Mary Katlin Ramsey and many relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his father James Ramsey and mother Beverly Ramsey. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Big Bend Hospice Visit www.bigbendhospice.org or call 878-5310 to find out how to donate. --- Being a latecomer to the Tally scene, I didn't meet Pat until the time of these recordings and a couple times later and was happy for him as he seemed to have found the peace we all desire. SC Pat Ramsay Benefit 10-24-08 scott-tally 2008-12-03 00:08:12 2008-10-23 00:42:53 5 1 5.00