O.C.M.S.

The tireless musicians of Old Crow Medicine Show paid their dues the hard way, traveling around the country and busking on street corners for years before getting a real break. The group settled for a time in North Carolina, where bluegrass veteran Doc Watson became an early supporter. But it wasn’t until the 2004 release of O.C.M.S. that the band began to experience widespread success. The album was propelled to the top of Billboard’s bluegrass charts largely on the strength of “Wagon Wheel," a sentimental ode to life from a string band; it had been a long-time live staple for the group. The song was adapted from an old Dylan tune, “Rock Me Mama,” a fragmentary song sketch that Old Crow leader Ketch Secor had first encountered on a bootleg collection of outtakes from the Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid sessions. Secor borrowed the chorus and lilting tempo of Dylan’s original but fleshed it out with some expository verses and a full string-band arrangement including banjo and fiddle breaks. The song eventually became Old Crow Medicine Show's trademark number, and its appearance on O.C.M.S. makes it one of the group’s most important records.