Blitzkrieg Bluegrass: Tommy Ramone on Uncle Monk

WHEN IT COMES to punk cred, Hungarian-born Tomas Erdelyi — better known as Tommy Ramone — has almost everyone beat.

As the original drummer of The Ramones, he invented their breakneck, to-the-point skin-slamming style. As the producer of the first four Ramones albums, he pioneered the hard-edged, back-to-basics sound with which punk would forever be identified. And as the primary writer of the first song on the first Ramones album, "Blitzkrieg Bop," he gave punk (and punk-pop) its first and one of its best anthems.

So what does the guy do for an encore? How about old time bluegrass?

For the past three years, the only surviving founding Ramone has kept his musical surname but changed up his style. He now plays banjo, mandolin and dobro and sings lead vocals as half of the Americana duo Uncle Monk. Together with former Simplistics singer-guitarist Claudia Tienan, Ramone has attempted to put a modern twist on old time music. So far, the duo has released one album, a self-titled 2006 effort that's filled with crack playing and catchy tunes. It all seems a long way from "Blitzkrieg Bop" to bluegrass, but it's really all connected if you listen closely, says Ramone.

Express caught up with Tommy Ramone by telephone while Uncle Monk was playing a live showcase for the "Bronzewound Radio Show," a bluegrass program that's heard on WERU-FM out of Maine.

» EXPRESS: Last night you played the Bronzewound showcase in Nashville. How did you guys go over with the Nashville crowd?
» RAMONE: Well, you know, we've been coming here for many years now. We love bluegrass and all the aspects of it. It's a very complex thing, with many different varieties of people who come to this and different audiences and different types of acts. But it's great. We're trying to bring something new into bluegrass, basically. We're taking traditional music — old time music — and writing modern lyrics to it and creating modern music with it. It's a new music to a lot of other people here. The response has been quite good.

» EXPRESS: I've read your love of bluegrass predates your time with the Ramones.
» RAMONE: I grew up with it as a kid. It was the music I listened to — old time music and folk music, until The Beatles and punk came around. And electric guitars.

» EXPRESS: Did you play any string instrument before you picked up drums?
» RAMONE: I got a guitar when I was 14, and there was a folk scene then in New York. I was a guitar player; I only played drums with the Ramones. I was originally their manager and we couldn't find a drummer for them, so I ended up playing drums.

» EXPRESS: I know you sung some harmonies on early Ramones albums, but was it difficult to start doing lead vocals with Uncle Monk?
» RAMONE: No, I always liked singing. The Ramones, you've gotta see, was basically a conceptual thing of mine initially. So, like I said, I was the manager, so I was always putting them up front. But with any other act or band I was in I was always the front person. So seeing me [sing] seems new and I guess not too many people know about it, but I have been front person before in other acts. It's not that new to me.

» EXPRESS: Can you talk about some of the influences you're bringing to Uncle Monk?
» RAMONE: Sure. It's inspired by old time music, bluegrass music, Americana. People like Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams and of course all the bluegrass artists — the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, The Skillet Lickers. A lot of that's very punky anyway.

» EXPRESS: You read my mind for the next question: I was going to ask if there was any common ground between "Blitzkrieg Bop" and bluegrass, or am I just reaching for connections?
» RAMONE: Yeah, underneath the framework it's very similar: basically simple songs — deceptively simple songs — but with lots of depth and meaning and emotion.

» EXPRESS: Did you ever play this music to the Ramones? I interviewed Johnny when I was in college and he didn't even seem open to the idea of The Velvet Underground. He kept talking about Motorhead!
» RAMONE: They knew I was a quote "folkie." They knew that, because we grew up in the same neighborhood. And they used to say "Tommy wants to be Steve Forbert."

» EXPRESS: When I mentioned The Velvets to Johnny, he called me a folkie, too.
» RAMONE: [Laughs] You know, but that's deceptive because he used to like folk music, too. I mean, not folk music, but he was a big Bob Dylan fan, you know? He sometimes came off more strident than he actually was. That's the way he loved to see himself.

» EXPRESS: What kind of reception do you and Claudia get live? Do you get dedicated bluegrass fans, casual listeners or punks shouting for "Beat on the Brat?"
» RAMONE: All of the above. A lot of people are being introduced to us in the bluegrass world because we play a lot of different types of venues. So you get a lot of Ramones fans and old folk fans, because we play a lot of folk type of venues.

» EXPRESS: Have you found some parts of the country more open to your sound than others?
» RAMONE: Yeah. The south and New England and the Midwest have been especially strong. We've only been to the central Midwest — I don't even know if it's called the Midwest — you know, Missouri, Kansas, northern Oklahoma, Denver, Colorado, Nebraska. Those areas we tour and did well there too. Great tours.

» EXPRESS: I hear some similarities between "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and your Uncle Monk song "Wishing at the Moon." Have you ever thought of recasting that as an old timey tune?
» RAMONE: Sure. It would be easy enough to do. Maybe one day we might put it in the set or something. Sure. A lot of the Ramones stuff, underneath it is very folkish. There's certainly elements of folk. I produced the album "Road to Ruin," and that has a lot of country and bluegrass elements on it if you listen to it. It's just electric, you know?

» EXPRESS: Where did the name Uncle Monk come from?
» RAMONE: It's a name I had for years and I liked the sound of it. It's kind of an homage to Thelonious Monk and the painter Edvard Munch.

» EXPRESS: Do you plan on releasing a follow up to Uncle Monk's self-titled debut?
» RAMONE: Yeah, we're gonna start working on it in the fall. And we hope to have a new record out by spring.

» Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Avenue East, Vienna; with Robinella, Tue., Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m., $12; 703-255-1566.

Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani

Photos by Dave Green (top) and Shana Novak