Dry Branch Fire Squad founder comes down from the mountain for Ca

When Ron Thomason retired from teaching in 1999, he was ready to escape city life. The leader of Dry Branch Fire Squad left Ohio for a Colorado mountaintop a four-hour drive from Denver. As a self-professed outdoorsman, horse enthusiast and conservation advocate, his adopted home is the perfect location.

“I had a vacation home out here for about 15 years,” Thomason said. “I bought a second ranch, and I was always going back and forth between Ohio and Colorado, and I thought I’d better get out here and see if I can’t get some work done.

“I live on a mountain called Eagle Peak,” he continued. “The nearest town is a little place called West Cliff and that’s about 21 miles away. The whole county, to put it in perspective, is 27 square miles less of an area than the state of Connecticut. And we have 2,520 people. That wouldn’t even be a big morning at the mall. You spread that many people out over that area and you get an idea how remote everything is here.”

Thomason is officially retired from his day job as teacher and heavily involved in raising horses, but he remains devoted to Dry Branch Fire Squad. The group, which he formed in southern Ohio in 1976, is currently supporting the album “Echoes from the Mountain.”

“The way music is going now days, and the way I think it is in most people’s ears, you get a product and there might only be one or two things you really like,” Thomason said. “I always hope we can do something that maybe a lot of people enjoy. It doesn’t do any good to just record for yourself simply because you already get to play that stuff all the time.”

Dry Branch Fire Squad returns to Canal Street Tavern for its annual shows on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9 and 10. While he enjoys being home on the mountain, Thomason admits he still looks forward to heading out to perform.

“It sounds kind of corny, but I always get excited when I know I’m leaving on tour,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a whirlwind for three or four days, or maybe two weekends in a row, and then I get back out here where it’s real remote and quiet. For me it’s a really nice change.

“It’s like having the two things I love most in my life together: my horses on one hand and music on the other,” Thomason added. “I definitely feel really lucky.”

Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.

How to go

Who: Dry Branch Fire Squad, with Ann & Phil Case

Where: Canal Street Tavern, 308 E. First St., Dayton

When: 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, and 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10

Cost: $12

For more information: (937) 461-9343 or www.canalstreettavern.com

Artist information: www.drybranch

firesquad.com

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