The legacy of Charlie Poole’s music lives on. Living from 1892 – 1931, Charlie Poole was a singer, banjo player and bandleader of the North Carolina Ramblers, a string band that recorded many popular songs between 1925 and 1930. Bluegrass traditionalists are well aware of his material, and there are periodic revivals of his music among practitioners of other genres too.  David Davis & the Warrior River Boys, an Alabama-based full-time bluegrass group since 1984, logs over 100,000 miles a year. They play powerful traditionally-grounded music with drive. The band is back with the Rounder label for this project. Frontman David Davis plays the mandolin, and sings lead and tenor. The rest of the quintet are now Marty Hays (bass, vocals), Robert Montgomery (banjo), Stan Wilemon (guitar), and Billy Hurt (fiddle).

David Davis comes from a musical family that included an uncle, Cleo, who was in Bill Monroe's first band of Blue Grass Boys in 1939 with Art Wooten and Amos Garren. David's grandfather and father were also musicians. The Warrior River Boys actually formed backed in the fifties. In 1984, band leader Garry Thurmond's health problems necessitated that David Davis, then only 23 years old, take over. With the help of musicians Mitch Scott, Al Lester, and Charlie Cline, the band started making history and toured from coast to coast. Radio DJ and emcee Ray Davis has also been an avid supporter and mentor for the Warrior River Boys. The band has a prolific recording history, with Rounder, then with Rebel, and now back with Rounder.

With the repertoire of Charlie Poole, this experienced band has found a great body of material that fits their traditional style presented with intensity, emotion and passion. David Davis and the Warrior River Boys play honest, heartfelt music with songs like Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee, May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister, The Highwayman, White House Blues, Milwaukee Blues, and Sweet Sunny South.  (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)