The Rifters formed in 2002 in the fertile and creative music scene of Taos, New Mexico from members of two popular bands already active in the area. Jim Bradley and Don Richmond of Hired Hands, and Rod Taylor of the Rounders, who had all known one another for years playing in the acoustic dance-oriented Americana music scene of northern New Mexico, decided to join forces to form The Rifters.
Putting out more music than it seems should be right for three guys on stage, the Rifters employ a wide range of acoustic and electric instruments, combined with soaring three-part harmonies, to provide a mesmerizing variety of music from driving blue-grama-grass to ethereal desert beauty. The years of playing to the dance crowds in their northern New Mexico homeland has given their music a toe-tapping rhythm that is engaging and undeniable. With a pedigree of bands like Hired Hands, the Rounders, and South by Southwest among them, the Rifters are truly a musical voice of their region of high desert vistas and mountain majesty.
The Rifters are:
Rod Taylor on guitar, mandolin, and vocals. Rod lives in Cimarron, New Mexico and is also head of cattle operations at Philmont Ranch. In other words, he doesn’t just look like a cowboy. Although Rod is well known nationally for playing traditional cowboy music at cowboy poetry gatherings and festivals, his musical influences run from The Beatles to The Allman Brothers to old blues to Willis Alan Ramsey and back again. Rod’s rich lead vocals provide one of the most immediately recognizable elements of The Rifters’ distinctive sound.
Jim Bradley on bass and vocals. Jim is a long-time Taos resident and is a native New Mexican, born in Las Cruces. Jim’s powerful rhythmic and percussive playing provide the pulse for The Rifters’ energetic acoustic rhythms. He has played his Fender bass from Alaska to Manhattan and many places in between, from the mountain bars to the big festival stages with touring national acts. Jim holds down many of the high harmony vocals in the Rifters’ rich vocal arrangements.
Don Richmond on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, dobro, pedal steel guitar, harmonica and vocals. Don was a founding member of the near-legendary Colorado band Tumbleweed (1973 – 1990) and the Colorado-New Mexico band Hired Hands (1992 - 2002). Don lives in Alamosa, Colorado and also owns and operates Howlin’ Dog Recording, one of the most respected acoustic-oriented recording studios in the region, and has appeared on dozens of recordings by many of the region’s top artists, as well as numerous projects under his own name and with his former bands. Don’s multi-instrumental skills help provide the variety and excitement audiences enjoy in a Rifters’ performance. He also covers lead and harmony vocals.
The Rifters are at home at a barn dance with the hay and the horses, in a mountain town bar or honky-tonk, or on a festival or concert stage. Their choice of moving and powerful material, both original and by others, their impeccable musicianship, and their strong three and four part vocal arrangements combine to make The Rifters a crowd-pleasing musical experience.
SONGLIST:
The Edge of Texas - Rifters
One More Dollar - Gillian Welch, Hired Hands
That's What I Like About You - Kevin Welch, Hired Hands
Hopes Up High - Joe Ely
Something About You - Kevin Welch, Hired Hands
Strangers - Rifters
Hungry for You - Rifters
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere - Bob Dylan, The Byrds
Knocking on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley, Peter Rowan
Midnight Moonlight - Peter Rowan
Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead
Copperline - James Taylor, Hired Hands
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness - John Prine
Oldest Baby in the World - John Prine
The Weight - The Band
Child of the Wild Blue Yonder - John Hiatt, Hired Hands
Bright Side of the Road - Van Morrison
Boxcars - Butch Hancock, Rifters
Miss Molly - Bob Wills
Milk Cow Blues - Bob Wills
Missing You - Little Feat
Cranes - Rifters
Ballad of B.F. Vance - Rifters
Deeper Well - Emmylou Harris, Hired Hands
Love at the Five and Dime - Nancy Griffith
The Great Divide - Kate Wolf
Freight Train - Fred Eaglesmith, Hired Hands
Hickory Wind - Gram Parsons
The Road Goes on Forever - Robert Earl Keen
Las Vegas - Gram Parsons
Flip, Flop, and Fly - Big Joe Turner, Rifters
Peaceful Easy Feeling - Eagles
Less and Less - Tim O'Brien
Going Gone - Pat Alger, Kathy Mattea
Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring - Rifters
Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight - Rodney Crowell
Strange Brew - Cream
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
Reno and Me - Kevin Welch
Bring It on Down to My House - Bob Wills
She Ain't Goin' Nowhere - Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark
Baton Rouge - Guy Clark
Stuff That Works - Rodney Crowell, Hired Hands
Navajo Rug - Ian Tyson
Tangled Up in Love - Keith Urban, Rifters
Woman of the Bayou Country - Cornbread
Song for the Life - Rodney Crowell
Till I Gain Control Again - Rodney Crowell
Twilight - The Band, Rifters
Take It Easy - The Eagles
Sin City - The Flying Burrito Brothers
Ripple - Grateful Dead
Kansas City
Route 66 - Asleep at the Wheel
Hard Living
Helpless - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison
Pancho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt
White Freightliner - Townes Van Zandt
More Pretty Girls Than One - Doc Watson, Jimmy Rodgers
"Wow! You guys really know how to throw a party!
All of us connected with the Colorado Avalanche can't thank you enough for
the great job you did orchestrating the celebration at City Hall for
our
Stanley Cup Champions
"
