LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2009) − The Red State Ramblers, the University of Kentucky’s official old-time string band, will celebrate the release of the band's second  CD, "Commonwealth," with a performance scheduled for 10 p.m. Friday, March 6, at Al’s Bar, located on the corner of Sixth St. and Limestone in Lexington.

The Red State Ramblers have been playing together for several years, having performed throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as well as in other venues in New England, the Midwest and the South. The group has garnered a number of awards, both as individual musicians and as a band.

While their first album featured material drawn from the entire corpus of old-time tradition, “Commonwealth” focuses solely on the musical traditions of the state of Kentucky. Drawing upon songs and tunes learned over the past couple of years, the Red State Ramblers wanted to put together an album that featured Kentucky’s unique contributions to old-time and early bluegrass music.

The only problem the Red State Ramblers encountered was the time constraints of a CD. “With so much great music from Kentucky, we had a difficult time choosing our absolute favorite tunes and songs,” said Nikos Pappas, the band's fiddle player.

Rounding out the Red State Ramblers lineup is Will Bacon on the banjo; Jeff Keith on the guitar and mandolin; and Kevin Kehrberg on bass. Three of the members, Pappas, Keith and Kehrberg, are doctoral candidates at UK's School of Music and Department of History. Bacon is an alumnus of the university.

Check out music by the Red State Ramblers online, which features audio and video clips of tracks from the new CD and live performances.