The Long Ryders

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The Long Ryders (Sid Griffin, guitar, autoharp, bugle; Stephen McCarthy, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, banjo ; Tom Stevens, bass; Greg Sowders, drums) were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in the early 1980s and originally associated with a movement sometimes called the Paisley Underground. With a sound reminiscent of Gram Parsons-era Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Flying Burrito Brothers, but with a harder edge, they anticipated the alternative country music of the 1990s by a decade. (Former Byrd Gene Clark added vocals to the song "Ivory Tower," on the 1984 Native Sons.) The group disbanded in 1987, but reunited in 2004 for a brief European tour, including a performance at the Glastonbury Festival. Further touring is possible for summer 2007.

Apart from occasional Long Ryders activity, Griffin, who relocated to London, has kept busy as a solo artist and bandleader (The Coal Porters, Western Electric), and as a music journalist and critic. McCarthy, after a stint leading his own band, Walker Stories, returned home to Richmond, Virginia; he played in the indie supergroup Gutterball with Steve Wynn and fellow Richmondites Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott of House of Freaks, and in 2003 began playing with The Jayhawks. Stevens moved to Indiana and continues to release solo albums. And Sowders, who was married for a time to the singer Lucinda Williams, went to work in music publishing.