EARLY SHOW: John Howie Jr. / Ramona and the Holy Smokes

Ramoan and the Holy Smokes Bio: Ramona and the Holy Smokes is a Honky Tonk band from Charlottesville Virginia, whose original country music recalls classic country from the 1950s and 60s. The Holy Smokes are fronted by Ramona Martinez, a prolific singer-songwriter whose sincere and heartfelt music has been described as “incredibly relatable” and “earnest.” She also pulls from her Mexican-American roots to perform and compose traditional Mariachi music in a Country Western style.

 

In 1995, John Howie Jr.’s honky-tonk band, the Two Dollar Pistols, emerged out of the North Carolina alt-country explosion that gave the world Whiskeytown and the Backsliders, among others. The Pistols spent twelve years traveling around the United States and Europe, making records for the esteemed Yep Roc label with an updated, soulful take on old-school country and honky-tonk sounds.

When the Two Dollar Pistols went on hiatus in 2008,  John formed John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff. The band has released two full-length albums, and, like the Pistols, the Rosewood Bluff has shared the stage with big names like the legendary George Jones, Wayne Hancock, Shovels and Rope, Justin Townes Earle, Dale Watson and many more. Both of the Rosewood Bluff’s albums, 2011’s Leavin’ Yesterday and 2014’s Everything Except Goodbye, were met with critical acclaim and received steady airplay on key programs like Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country.

Howie spent the majority of 2016/2017 in the studio and on the road playing drums for Bloodshot Records artists Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, receiving a co-writing credit for the song, “Fuck Up,” from the album Sidelong. He left the Disarmers in late 2017 to continue to work on his own music, and released his critically acclaimed solo album, Not Tonight, which featured members of the Disarmers and the Rosewood Bluff, in September 2018. 2020 found John and the Rosewood Bluff releasing the “Better Things” single and video and working on a new album of original material, Never Enough, for release in 2024.