Rumpke Mountain Boys Return To Des Moines To Play The Hull Avenue Tavern

The Rumpke Mountain Boys are on their way to great things. Widely respected in the bluegrass community as one of the tightest and most energetic bands in the country, they have been in almost constant tour mode for most of this year, darting across the country like a vagabond circus of acoustic mayhem. They played a 5 hour set atop the famous FURTHER bus on the west coast this summer, a set that was originally slotted to be a 40 minute quickie. As you can imagine, things got weird and nobody stepped in to tell them to stop playing, and as if they were on auto-pilot, the Rumpke Mountain Boys just kept doing their thing until the sun came up in the eastern sky. 

Of course, nobody seemed to mind.  

If you saw the Rumpke Mountain Boys at The Bigfoot Ball, then you need no convincing that these boys know how to throw a party.

Artwork by Jason Boten

Hailing from Cincinnati this  band is legendary on the festival circuit. Take their set at this year's Dark Star Jubilee at Buckeye Lake in Ohio: "They are like the devil," one fan told me prior to their set. "They'll play all night long without taking a break."

You could see the exodus down the hill from the campgrounds to the stage when RMB came on and they were the first band at the Jubilee to garner an encore. However, time was short and master of ceremonies Sam Cutler had to cut them off due to time and schedule restraints. The next morning, stories were abundant about the Rumpke Boys and their late night soiree through the campgrounds. They showed the same vigor and tenacity when they played the Bigfoot Ball at the Briar Patch in August, playing a virtual non-stop 4 hour set. (That doesn't count the three-plus hours they jammed together in the parking lot before taking the stage.)


The Rumpke Mountain Boys will be making a rare stop at the Hull Avenue Tavern on Friday. The show is FREE and will start around 8:00ish and they will play until the very end of the night. And by the end of the night, I mean put on your muck boots, because it'll be time to feed the cattle.