Playing guitar forever.  Bass, vocals and harmonica almost as long.  Recording producer, currently working out of my home studio.

Actor, singer-songwriter, producer living in West Hollywood. Let's make the world a better place!

Big Iron: A Brief History

In 2010 at the height of the last economic malaise most of us experienced, I found myself out of work with a depleted bank account and not many great prospects for a return to normal. It was at this rather bleak moment that I carefully considered my options and did what any other sensible man in his 50's would do under the circumstances:   I started a band dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of classic honky-tonk music of the 1960’s. I know that must sound completely insane, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We've had a great run since our very first gig ten years ago and have had the pleasure of entertaining folks across northern California from the Sierras to San Francisco. It's been a terrific experience with lots of memorable highs and of course some rather comedic lows but more than anything, I'm grateful for all the wonderful and enthusiastic folks who came to see us – from the tiny neighborhood bars in small mountain towns to the well-funded and lavish outdoor events in the wine country.  As they say, there’s a beginning and end to everything and ours was triggered by two rather profound events. First, the pandemic and shutdown in 2020 and then the untimely death of bassist Brett Boyle. The first event we could have ridden out, but the second proved too much for us to carry on as before.  In many ways Brett was the spiritual center of the band and for that I’ll always be grateful.
 I decided to put together this collection of Big Iron recordings that would serve as a well-rounded snapshot  of our particular take on vintage country music. During the band's nearly ten years of activity we didn't record that often but enough to put out albums in 2011 and 2014. I divided this compilation into three parts. The first seven tracks are my favorites taken from our two albums.  Tracks 8-14 were recorded in November of 2018 in one five-hour session where we set up in the living room of guitarist Brian Wahl’s home. The remaining tracks were recorded at my house at various times between 2015-2020.
Sometimes we treated the material with great reverence and played them straight while other times we took big creative liberties deconstructing and rearranging classics songs to the point where they might be hard to recognize. Above all, we loved the music and the genre and I hope that shows through. Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank my stalwart bandmates (Larry, Charlie, Brian and Brett) and the other talented musicians who had been part of our line-up over the past 10 years in one capacity or another.  Sterling gentlemen all:
Lead guitar: Ray Sayre, Bob Woods, Geoff Miller
Bass: Ty Smith, Ray Yukich
Pedal steel guitar: Bill Bergren
Remember, you can make your day better with music!

Rich 
September 2021

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