Moonlight Ramblers

    Live Rehearsal

Moonlight Ramblers

Bill Alevizon had a few oceanographer/marine biologist/scientist type buddies that were doing a documentary on the fishes around Bimini Island. 

They asked him if The Moonlight Ramblers could provide some “traditional” music that could be used in the background.We recorded 3 songs, “Bimini Gal”, “Sloop John B”, and “Soon Be Over”. I don’t remember if all 3 made it into the film, but they are all pretty good! One of them, however, can be a little monotonous. See if you can figure out which one that is.

 The “Lonesome Coyotes” breakup led to the beginning of a new band dedicated to “Western” or “Cowboy” music. The thought was that we would get in the nitch and play the Cowboy Music and Poetry festivals around the country. (We did play one in Kanab UT).

I never thought I would play this kind of music in my life, but once I got into it, I learned a lot about early cowboy life and the music of that time. It was interesting and got to be a lot of fun! We were pretty good too!

The members started out with Bill Alevizon and myself. We soon added Tim Smart, and Keith Taylor. Mike Zarret replaced Keith on guitar after a little bit. We got to a point where we wanted to add some instrument to make our sound a bit more authentic. (A fiddle, mandolin, etc.). Rather than add another member to the group, I decided to take up the mandolin. A bass player going from 4 big thick strings to an instrument that had 8 tiny little strings was a challenge to say the least. But I learned enough to add that authentic sound we were looking for. I still enjoy playing the mandolin from time to time!

We ended up mainly playing local coffee shops plus one regular gig at “Pappy And Harriet’s” an old time saloon in Pioneer Town. (It’s an old western movie set town that used to be owned by The Son’s Of The Pioneers” located out in the desert). We had all kinds of props on stage with us. A saddle, pickle barrel, big boulders (plastic of course), and even a campfire! 

Unfortunately, after one of the gigs, as we were packing up all that crap (we didn’t have roadies for some reason), Bill pinched a nerve in his neck/shoulder carrying the saddle. It was so bad, he could not play guitar at all and was laid up for a year. Since he was the lead singer in the band and pretty much the manager, the band came to a halt. That was it! 

I wanted something to remember the group by so I got Tim, Keith, and Mike together at Keith’s recording studio (Taylor Made Studio) in Fountain Valley, CA , and we recorded 12 songs for a CD called “Ramblings” by The Moonlight Ramblers. I didn’t think at the time that I should have included Bill in the project cuz he could still sing. But I didn’t and regret it to this day. 

Dennis Hageman

Bimini Project

"Ramblings"

M L Ramblers (tribute)

Early M L Ramblers

The Moonlight Ramblers