THE LONG RYDERS * HIGH NOON HYMNS *
High Noon Hymns
The follow up the critically acclaimed 'September November'.
Produced by studio whiz Ed Stasium who is best known for his long relationship as producer and engineer for The Ramones. Ed has also produced three previous Long Ryders’ records plus enjoyed successful recordings with the Smithereens, Soul Asylum, Motörhead, Marshall Crenshaw, Living Colour, the Hoodoo Gurus and Julian Cope.
Long Ryder guitarist/mandolinist Sid Griffin states 'High Noon Hymns' is “two thirds the distilled alt country genre we helped found back in the 1980s, one third Paisley Underground adventurism yet with a dash of our own crazed soulfulness thrown in."
Due to the unexpected passing of Long Ryders' bassist Tom Stevens, bass duties on the new album were shared by Murry Hammond of Americana stalwarts The Old 97s and The Long Ryders’ own Stephen McCarthy. McCarthy also performs live with The Jayhawks and occasionally records with the Dream Syndicate. Guests appearing in the album include DJ Bonebrake of X on vibes and young bluegrass wunderkind Wyatt Ellis on mandolin.
The album was recorded at Kozy Tone Studios in sunny Poway, California.
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Biography
The Long Ryders are an American rock ‘n roll band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. They are often credited as founders of the alt-country movement and are the recent recipients of the Americana Music Association UK’s “International Trailblazer Award”. The band’s highly original roots rock recipe blends the punk rock spirit of the Ramones, the soul of Merle Haggard, the cosmic country of Gram Parsons and beautiful jangle of The Byrds into their own uniquely American musical experience.
For 2026 the Long Ryders have a new single out, Four Winters Away, with a new album out March 13th entitled High Noon Hymns. Produced again by Ed Stasium, the album is a consolidation of the classic Long Ryders sound of country licks over a punk rock rhythm with passionate melodic singing. High Noon Hymns features Murry Hammond of the Old 97s on bass, longtime Long Ryders pal DJ Bonebrake of X on vibes, and young bluegrass virtuoso Wyatt Ellis on mandolin.
There is nothing quite like the Long Ryders live, not back then and certainly not now. Go see them for the musical ride of your life. Be part of rock ‘n’ roll history and write your own chapter at one of their shows. Get there early and hang on tight.
The Long Ryders
The Long Ryders were formed Thanksgiving 1981 in west Los Angeles, California. Kentucky born guitarist Sid Griffin left his sixties punk band The Unclaimed after having bonded musically with former Boxboys drummer Greg Sowders at a jam session in the notorious ON Klub in Silverlake. The other guitar player was Steve Wynn but he left to form the Dream Syndicate whereupon Virginia’s Stephen McCarthy, a country music lover new to L.A., stepped in after answering a “Musician’s Wanted” ad in a local Korean free newspaper.
The original bass player was Barry Shank but he quit to return to graduate school and was replaced by ex-pat Englishman Des Brewer who owned two budgies. This lineup recorded and released an EP in 1983 produced by ex-Sparks guitarist/former Beach Boys engineer Earle Mankey called 10-5-60 and it was so well received they decided to tour the USA. Des Brewer dropped out at this point to continue his career as a longshoreman in San Pedro and was replaced by Indiana’s Tom Stevens, a former candidate in the NASA “Right Stuff” space program in Houston.
Signed to (then) hip indie label Frontier the band recorded their debut LP Native Sons with the late, great Henry Lewy producing. Lewy had worked with the Flying Burrito Brothers on their classic Gilded Palace Of Sin LP as well as with the Association, Barbara Streisand and Van Morrison. Lewy had enjoyed a long, fruitful studio partnership with Joni Mitchell. Together the Long Ryders and Lewy came up with an album called “a modern American classic” by Melody Maker and soon found themselves on the cover of the New Musical Express as well as playing live on the BBC’s Whistle Test TV show.
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