Bottle Up & Go by JimJim & the FatBoys

Recorded over three days time at Kiva Studios in Fort Collins, Colorado, Bottle Up & Go brings together the varied musical interests of these talented musicians in an "olio of original and traditional songs of the spirit" pleasing to varied musical palates. "What the Hell (The Winfield Song)" won the New Song Showcase at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS 2001 and the group performed it on Stage III and Stage V.

Enthusiastic radio play in Europe echoes the applause of audiences and fellow jam-mates. Wherever they play live there is intoxicating music and folks who jump in and play along.

REVIEWS:

"Bottle Up and Go CD is filled with 14 hits for the "Royal Pub" Group. Aleady we are getting rave reviews and lots of airplay on radio oversease while listeners hollar for MORE!!!! Grab some beer, get the food, the gang and your instruments and join this party...." -EH King, Country Western Corner

Owl Mountain Music is celebrating its tenth anniversary with their debut release from JimJim & the FatBoys. It was recorded in Colorado and in it they've got a mixed bag of tricks. These boys like their music, and they like their instruments. I never heard of so many ways to make a dulcimer.     

 There are no limits to the music they present on this CD, all of it great music. I thought it full of imagination and inspiration, much of it straight from life experiences. The whole thing feels like, "Let's sit on the back porch boys, and sing about what happened yesterday, and if

anybody knows a good son, let's do that, too." But they're seriously good musicians and each cut is well crafted.      

I can't compare it to anything else I've heard in a long time. The music in the selections they play is not simple. They choose to play folk music in so many ways: classic Spanish guitar tunes, traditional English tunes, a pop tune, Delta blues sounds and a tinge of gospel.      

Their voices are rough and folksy and take a bit of getting used to, but it's part of the real sound. They share a lot of fun and frustrations in their original pieces which fit somewhere in the blues tradition.      

Their music is really good and I'd really like to hear them live. Here I go trying to compare them again. They're like the Irish Rovers, but without the Irish--true folk music with great musicianship. Give it a whirl if you've got a yen for a breath of fresh mountain

air mixed in with beer and wives and camping stories, and hope."  --Veema Kysac, Rambles.net: a cultural arts magazine

"Good stuff. Expressive singing and music that stands out. " --Rex Rideout, Colorado

" Our whole family laughed so hard we cried when Jim [Pierce] sang "What the Hell" from Bottle Up and Go at my retirement party. That song could have been written about Larry when he takes off for Sturgis on his motorcycle and leaves me at home. I've been playing the CD in the car all week. It's great" --Joan, St. Joseph, Missouri

"My 4 year old grand-daughter wants to listen to "Fish Ain't Bitin'" every time she comes over. She knows all the words and sings along." --Ed, St. Joseph, Missouri

"My special thanx for sending the terrific JJ & the FatBoys CD. I love so much the sound of dulcimer. ... Beautiful music, great picking and fantastic arrangements. --Miroslaw Desperak, Institute of Technology Radio, Czestochowa, Poland.

"A well-engineered CD with great variety in the music selected. Good songs, well delivered." --Susan, Robinson, Kansas

"Do you guys really play all those instruments? I especially like the hammered dulcimer on "Roseville Fair." --Bill

"I can't wait to get back to Minnesota and share this one with my friends." --Stacy, Minnesota, Walnut Valley Festival 2001

"An acoustical gumbo flavored with Celtic, bluegrass, Delta blues, gospel and folk"

-Dulcimer Players News

"Awesome. You guys can sing me to sleep any time!" --Tracy, Texas, camping neighbor at Winfield Festival

"You've got to sing "What the Hell" for us one more time before we go home, and, you've got to write the next chapter for next year. This time the freezer broke as soon as Gary left for Winfield!" --The real Gary and Liz about whom the song was written!

"Goofiness is the order of the day on a brand new Owl Mountain release by JimJim and the Fatboys, Bottle Up & Go. JimJim and the Fatboys are a band of Midwesterners that hooked up with Steve Eulberg (the album's producer) at the annual Winfield, Kansas festival they all attend. Here, the work is mostly vocal, spinning yarns and admitting attitudes with the turn of the phrase in mind. You don't mind so much that the vocals are kind of rough, because the songs are homegrown and aiming towards the light side. Tunes like What the Hell (Winfield Song) and Fish Ain't Bitin' are designed for the chuckle and the tapping foot, not the pensive moment.       

The group takes tongue out of cheek for a precious few tracks--espeically on an instrumental reading of Greensleeves and on a reverently religious vocal piece titled Chechen Christmas. ... I think JimJim and the Fatboys have a serious-side album in them, but this production begs to keep it light and keep it friendly. So okay, a couple of introspective songs get thrown in, but for the most part, this is an album full of character, humor and the joy of rhyme."

--Tim Van Schmidt, Riff Magazine

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