Morgan Jahnig, the group’s longtime upright bassist, who joined in 2000, remembers how Old Crow launched into fame with “Wagon Wheel,” the megahit that officially appeared on the band's 2004 debut album, O.C.M.S., and has since become an instantly recognizable staple in pop culture.
But before it permeated the collective consciousness, Old Crow spent five years busking across North America, making a name for itself in the DIY bluegrass circuit. That eventually led the members to Music City, where the old-time strings crew was content with playing in the shadows of the Grand Ole Opry before catching a big break.
“We had been busking by the shrubbery for a while, and they finally let us come up on stage,” Jahnig says, adding that Old Crow was tapped to open for legendary bluegrass picker Del McCoury.
That’s when founding frontman Ketch Secor decided to break out a song he’d written years before, based on an unfinished Dylan tune from 1973 called “Rock Me, Mama.”
“We mostly been playing traditional songs because when you’re busking, you need to have that energy up to get people to stop on the street to put a buck in your banjo case,” Jahnig continues. “That was the first time we were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to play this song.’ And I hadn’t heard it yet, but I remember we played through it and learned it at soundcheck. I remember thinking at the time, ‘We need to start playing that song more. That’s a really good song.’”
We're not sure if the band is playing "Wagon Wheel" here, but it looks like everyone is having a good time nonetheless.
Courtesy Old Crow Medicine Show
“People ask me sometimes if I do get tired of playing that song and the answer is emphatically ‘no,’” Jahnig says. “Every time that guitar line launches, and you see people standing up and their faces lighting up, what’s not to like about that? It’s a great song.”
Sing along when Old Crow brings its Circle the Wagons Tour to Beaver Creek’s Vilar Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, March 26. Nashville singer-songwriter Vinnie Paolizzi is also on the bill. The band is also busy celebrating O.C.M.S. being released for the first time on vinyl and the end of a 25-year anniversary run.
Plus, since 2020, Old Crow has been operating from a more official home base in east Nashville called Hartland Studios. Originally created via the “Hartland Hootenanny” YouTube series, the former warehouse owned by the band now hosts writing and recording sessions, in addition to being an Old Crow operations center. “It is our literal crow’s nest. Anything Old Crow related flows through Heartland these days,” according to Jahnig.
“We’ve always had it in our mind that we’d love to have a place of our own. There was this one building that we’d drive by all the time that just looked vacant,” he adds. “One day, we drove by, and there was a ‘for sale’ sign up, so we jumped on it and made a deal. All of a sudden, we had this place we can be in together, and it kind of gave us this anchor.”
Having a home is an added layer of consistency nowadays, but the biggest factor to maintaining such a remarkable output is the same as it’s always been — strong songwriting, particularly Sector’s gift of creating catchy ballads.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pumping two or three out a day sometimes, when he’s really going. When you write that much, what happens is that suddenly you shake the wheat, and the chaff flies off, and you’re just left with all the goodness,” Jahnig explains. “We’re very fortunate to have this absolute trove of great songs that Ketch has written over the years, with other people, and when it comes time to make a record, we have to root around in that bucket of gold, and we’ll come up with some pretty fun stuff.”
But Old Crow hasn’t lost sight of those early vagabond days, no matter how far it has come.
“We’ll always remember those bleary-eyed drives across the country, sleeping two, three to a bed in a Motel 6,” Jahnig concludes. “That will never leave us. Old Crow has kind of always been about change and adapting and overcoming.”
Old Crow Medicine Show, with Vinnie Paolizzi, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, Vilar Performing Arts Center, 68 Avondale Lane, Beaver Creek. Tickets are $85-$142.
