The Long Ryders were and are the founders of Alt-country, a musical genre which did not exist before they burned so brightly in the eighties, and are a key link in the Americana chain, uniting Gram Parsons’ Flying Burrito Bros with Wilco and the Jayhawks. And fortunately for us all the Long Ryders saddled up again in February 2019 when their first album in three decades was released, ‘Psychedelic Country Soul’, with a tour to follow.
When synth-pop dominated the charts from San Diego to Singapore the Long Ryders were in various Los Angeles bands, waiting for their chance to smash plastic keyboard pop with electric guitar goodness, and heartfelt harmonies. Featuring Sid Griffin from Kentucky, Stephen McCarthy from Virginia (later a Jayhawks’ member), Tom Stevens from Indiana, and L.A. native Greg Sowders they came together determined to put the punk energy of X and the Clash alongside the harmonies and musical chops of the Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield.
In 2016 the Long Ryders had finished their first lengthy tour in over a decade when Sid Griffin took a phone call from ex-Long Ryders roadie Larry Chatman, now working for Dr. Dre. Larry made a generous offer of studio time in Dr. Dre’s Los Angeles’ studio and in eight days of madcap recording a new album, Psychedelic Country Soul, was recorded. Produced by their old producer Ed Stasium (the Ramones, Belinda Carlisle, the Smithereens) it is, in Sid Griffin’s own words, “our best album by miles…I mean without question”.
2019 will see the Long Ryders hit the road in support of ‘Psychedelic Country Soul’ and the world will once again know the power of an electric 12-string guitar when matched by a punk energy. There is nothing like the Long Ryders live, not back then, and not now. Go see them for the ride of your life. Saddle up and hang on tight.
Presented by Lonesome Highway
The Long Ryders