The Romany Rye (band)

The Romany Rye
Origin Long Beach, CA, US
Genres Folk-rock, indie, Americana
Years active 2009–present
Website [1]

The Romany Rye is a band formed by Luke MacMaster, former guitarist of Colour. Their first album, Highway 1, Looking Back Carefully, was released on October 5, 2009 with a track listing of eight songs. The band could be categorized as indie folk-rock and draws comparisons to the likes of Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, and many others.[1][2] Kings of Leon guitarist Matthew Followill, whose band has its early roots in country rock, dubbed them a band to watch in 2010.[3]

Highway 1, Looking Back Carefully

Track Track Title Length
1 Brother 4:36
2 Dear Holly 3:44
3 Old Soul 4:16
4 All the Boys 4:18
5 Black Hair 2:43
6 Long Way Down 3:53
7 Marquee 2:42
8 Untitled 5:22

Rolling Stone Cover Contest

In early February 2011, when Rolling Stone magazine created a contest called "Do You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star?", The Romany Rye was one of the 16 selected bands.[4] The contest pits these 16 up-and-coming bands against each other in a tournament where fans vote on the bands in order to progress them to the next round. The winner will be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. On March 16, it was announced that the band made it through into the second round, with 8 bands left. However, it was later reported that the band was eliminated in Round Two. The Sheepdogs went on to win the competition and be the first ever unsigned band to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone.

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