Doug Rorrer grew up in Eden, North Carolina listening to his great-uncles Charlie Poole and Posey Rorer on old 78s
on his father’s old Victrola. He cut his musical teeth on Poole’s music. His guitar “heroes” were Roy Harvey of Poole’s
band, Riley Puckett of the Skillet Lickers, and a local guitarist, Gene Meade, who played in the Puckett style. Doug
cites Doc Watson as one of his present day inspirations. Over the years, Doug has been fortunate enough to learn from
and play with the likes of Norman Woodlieff, Lonnie Austin, and Buck and Alice Easley. Austin and Woodlieff played
fiddle and guitar respectively with Poole’s North Carolina Ramblers.
Doug’s son, Taylor is keeping the family’s musical tradition alive. Taylor has become an accomplished guitarist in his
own right. He draws his influences from Poole’s music and also contemporary musicians such as Norman Blake, Tony
Rice, and Doc Watson, among others. Taylor is also accomplished at old-time fiddle, old-time Poole style banjo, and
numerous other instruments.
Kathy has recently joined the Hungry Hash House Ramblers on bass and vocals, rounding out the family tradition of
music. Kathy is a classically trained musician who has developed a great love of old-time music.
Doug has taught guitar workshops and performed at the Augusta Heritage
Festival in Elkins, WV; the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival in Ferrum, VA;
MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC; the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port
Townsend, WA; the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau, AK; the Minnesota
Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival; and the University of Chicago Folk
Festival, among others. Doug and Taylor performed on a tour of England and Scotland in July of 2001 and also June of
2003. They also performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. June 25-29 of 2003.
Along with his wife, Kathy, he owns and operates Flyin’ Cloud Records and recording studio, which specializes in
old-time, bluegrass, and other traditional acoustic music.
Doug has released the CD: Under the Influence, which pays tribute to some of his influences such as Riley Puckett,
Roy Harvey, and Gene Meade. Doug and Taylor have also released the CD entitled: Tradition: A Tribute to Doc &
Merle Watson. A track from this CD was featured on Flatpicking ‘99 which was released by Flatpicking Guitar
Magazine. Doug and Taylor were also featured on DocFest, which is a CD also released by Flatpicking Guitar
Magazine in 2002 as a tribute to Doc Watson. Doug and Taylor were also featured on Flatpicking 2003, another
release by Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Most recently, Doug and Taylor, along with Edwin Lacy, have released a
new CD with their newly formed group, The Hungry Hash House Ramblers, entitled, The Butter Had Red Hair.
The band has just completed a tour of Scotland and England in support of the new CD. The Hungry Hash House
Ramblers were also featured at the 2004 Celtic Connections Festival at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow,
Scotland, where they performed with Archie Fisher and Martin Stephenson.
The Rorrer’s are joined by members of the “extended” family including Edwin Lacy on banjo/vocals, Scott Manring on
banjo/guitar, Scott Freeman on mandolin/fiddle/vocal, and Tina Trianosky on banjo.
