Rebels Without Applause

The Sid Griffin/Coal Porters Fanzine Homepage

GREG SOWDERS & TOM STEVENS INTERVIEW

RWA: So, to bring everyone up to date, what have you been up to since the last Long Ryders gigs in 1987 and beginning the current tour?

GREG: I am a dad, my 13 year old daughter plays the vibes in her school jazz band. I also am the senior vice president of A&R for Warner Chappell music publishing in Los Angeles California.I work with rock and alternative bands and songwriters.

TOM: During the year I stayed in L.A. post-Long Ryders, I recorded some new songs; some of them are on my Points Revisited CD. I also played bass and recorded with Chris Cacavas' Junkyard Love and produced and played on Jack Waterson's Whose Dog CD. Family matters brought me back to Indiana in July of 1988 and I've been here ever since. Two "official" Tom Stevens solo CDs have been released since: Another Room and Points Revisited. A new solo CD is being finished and should be out in early 2005.

RWA: After such a long gap, why decide now to do a reunion tour? Was there an element of unfinished business about The Long Ryders demise?

GREG: Yes, unfinished business.Teach these alt.country kids a couple things about real country rock.Actually glad to be part of the link from back then to now ....plus see my brothers from the band, and visit with our dear old fans/friends one more time.

TOM: Two big factors: fans were constantly asking not only the four of us, but also Steve Wynn, Lucinda Williams, and others that know us, the same question: "when are The Long Ryders getting back together?" This seemed to be building, not diminishing, over time. The other factor was that The Agency Group approached Sid about reforming The Long Ryders for a summer tour. Sid called Sowders, Sowders called McCarthy, and me. To everyone's surprise, we all eventually said yes.

RWA: What was it like getting back together with the other three band members? Who had changed the most?

GREG: I have changed. The others are all great.Not so much drama anymore.We have "opinions" now instead of fist fights!Better musicians too.

TOM: Aside from Sowders' hairline changing a little faster than anyone's (he's just taken an early lead; I'm sure we'll all catch up before long), it was striking how little any of us have changed, either physically, personally or musically. It wasn't hard to jump into rehearsal, the van or stage with the same attitude we always had.

RWA: How long did it take during rehearsals for you to 'find your groove'? Did it happen gradually or did it suddenly click?

GREG: Both.Familiar at first, rocking and willing to take some risks later on. Stage felt very familiar.

TOM: The huge sound that characterizes The Long Ryders was there immediately. It took us a bit of time to perfect all the minute parts and remember all the lyrics we'd written 20-odd years ago. Most of us play different instruments in bands now, so returning to our original instruments required a bit of time to readjust. The joy of it made it all very easy, though.

RWA: You started off the tour with a bang, with 2 gigs in 1 day, including Glastonbury. What was that like? Were you nervous?

GREG: Nervous a bit at Glastonbury.Half way into "Rock and Roll Star" I felt like I was home again.Spydafest was a gas...

TOM: Typical Long Ryders. Most bands would play a few warmup gigs before an all-important show like Glastonbury, and pace things to allow plenty of time to get back in the groove beforehand. Not us. We did the opposite, throwing ourselves into the wolf den, and kicking ass. We did loosen up as a band as the shows went on, adding more songs to the night's list, sometimes playing them during soundcheck, sometimes not. That Glastonbury Saturday was a rainy, cold, muddy day. Our bus got stuck right outside of the tent at Glastonbury on the way in - I have a picture of the guys at the festival pushing it out. After the two hours it took to leave that area, it got really foggy driving to Dorset, but we made it with time to spare, and played for an enthusiastic crowd.

RWA: Has the live scene changed much since 1987? Presumably the audience was much older?!

TOM: Our old fans did follow us to the 2004 shows - lots of old tour T-shirts were evident, and lots of old LPs were brought to us at the merch table afterward for signing. London had lots of older fans singing along with everything, and Glastonbury and Manchester probably had the greatest amount of younger fans. I'm not sure how many Wilco/Kings of Leon fans who read comparisons to The Long Ryders actually made it to our shows. The last-minute curious types may have been shut out since most of the shows were sold out, but of course we always welcome young and old alike.

GREG: Yes different. Fans have more choices now, and things don't seem to be so passionate anymore. In the older days, we all lived and died for each new record or gig. The fans and the bands.Now it seems to be less important to the kids. Maybe it's me!

RWA: In 1987, the Long Ryders were still signed to Island Records - was there a more relaxed feel this time, with no record company influence/pressure?

TOM: We were much more relaxed in that context. A major weight was lifted.In the later days (1986-1987) Island UK did all they could to kill our careers, and Island US hadn't a clue what to do with us, but still tried to give us their faulty "direction." It got in the way of simply writing great songs and playing great shows.Good riddance to all of that. It was good to just play for fans again.

GREG: Very relaxed.Here to please ourselves and the fans only.

RWA: So You Wanna Be A Rock'n'Roll Star opened the early sets but was dropped in later shows for Run Dusty Run - any particular reason for that?

TOM: Rock & Roll Star was tongue-in-cheek, an idea Sid had to open Glastonbury and London, to include Dave Woodhead on trumpet. I'm glad one reviewer got it - opening with R&R Star after walking on to "The Magnificent Seven" as background music took a good-natured poke at some people's preconceptions about us, and I hope it showed that we still don't take ourselves serious in an unhealthy way.

GREG: No horn for some of the dates."Dusty" always was a great opener too!

RWA: Most sets appeared to be drawn mostly from the Best Of CD track listing, but 1 or 2 things were new, eg. Louisville by Jann Browne and another song Burned. Why choose those particular songs to cover?

GREG: As we were turned on by certain songs, we tried to incorporate them into set."Burned" is a great old Neil Young tune. We tried to something different in each city.

TOM: Since we didn't have the time or desire for any new originals this tour, we decided that each of us should suggest a few unique-to-the-tour cover songs. Burned and Louisville were both brought in by Stephen. I lobbied for and wound up taking over singing You're Gonna Miss Me; Sid wanted to do R&R Star and Teenage Kicks.

RWA: Were there any songs from the old days you'd wished you'd played this tour?

TOM: I was happy that we finally got around to Light Gets in the Way late in the tour, since that and I Want You Bad are my favorites from our last LP.I came up with the original working setlist, and everyone else said yes or no to each song. For example, Join My Gang, Still Get By and Tell It to the Judge on Sunday were all nixed by others in the band. In total we played 33 different songs this tour, and I thought it was a good cross-section of our favorites, and hopefully favorites of our fans as well.

GREG: I always loved "Baby's In Toyland" and "Rest Of My Days".

RWA: What about the fanbase on this tour. Was it older Long Ryders fans or new converts from Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and the alt-county scene?

GREG: Lot of old geezers like me brought their kids.Also the younger fans who have a sense of rock and roll history. Just kids trying to connect the dots from then to now I think.

RWA: How was it, meeting up with people and fans you'd known from the Long Ryders' days? (eg Andy Kershaw)

GREG: A total blast.

TOM: Andy is a guy we owe a great debt of gratitude, and it was not only great to see him, to great to know he's still his old great self! We were having an evening dinner in London with several of our friends of many years. Andy came late, with a story: he was at a London anti-landmine benefit where he met up with Paul McCartney for the first time ever.Andy had to say, "Uh, sorry Paul, I have to see some friends of mine from America I haven't seen in 17 years ..."Also in attendance at the dinner were Anna Menzes and Nick Stewart, both from our early days with Island UK. Nick signed us and was always very supportive before the axe fell on him. He says to me as we were leaving, "Tom, you are the musical heart of this band. You (The Long Ryders) must make a new LP, and stop hiding in North Carolina! The fans were great to see again, it was a good reminder of the best reasons why we were in the band in the first place. Overall, I never got tired of hearing, "we saw you 17 years a go at...". Seeing the old faces again was definitely good for the soul.

RWA: What was it like onstage for you guys? Did it feel weird or perfectly natural?

TOM: It was very natural, like we never stopped playing together.

GREG: Natural and sexy like Sid Griffin.

RWA: What was the general reaction of the fans to the tour?

TOM: Enthusiasm and big smiles.

GREG: Fantastic. All grateful and very friendly.

TOM: The biggest bonus for me, aside from being able to play and sing with Stephen again, was that we mainly played small enough rooms to be able to look all the way to the back and see the smiles and expressions on each of the fans in the crowd.

RWA: The last 2 shows were in Spain, where the band played in from of huge crowds in the 80s. How did they react this time?

GREG: Mad Spanish conquistadors.Great mix of ages too.

TOM: It was great once again. The crowd in Madrid didn't want us to leave and kept cheering for a long time after we were done and music was playing over the PA. Gijon, a large outdoor festival, was also great and rivalled Glastonbury for the largest crowd of the tour.

RWA: What were the best and worst moments of the tour?

GREG: No worst. Being with the lads was the best for me.

TOM: The worst - the British rail train outside my Bed & Breakfast window in London that sounded like a jet taking off. It allowed me about 5 hours of sleep each night, but at least I didn't need an alarm clock. The best -aside from what I described earlier - was playing Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Streets of Baltimore unrehearsed at Leeds, which was about as close to an acoustic set that Britain has ever seen from us, and meeting and greeting the fans after the shows.

RWA: Are there any other particularly interesting tour stories to tell?

TOM: Don't know how interesting this is, but The Long Ryders did a semi-scientific sampling of the hundreds of different flavors of crisps available at the Motos scattered throughout various English roadsides.Gotta ask - are Hedgehog-flavored crisps made from real Hedgehogs? Gone were the old days that we'd live very dangerously on the road. We're all daddies now, and I think that does curtail the wild streak off-stage to an extent. It gave us that much more to give on-stage.

GREG: I still don't mind watching Stephen McCarthy lay down the odd guitar solo ...

RWA: Whichever way you were going to measure it, would you consider the tour a success?

GREG: Absolutely. I got to play drums next to Tom Stevens again.

TOM: Yes, but we'll wait 'til Sid finishes the accounting to tell you for sure.

RWA: 17 years on, how do you think The Long Ryders' music stands up in 2004? Where you a band caught out of time?

TOM: I think our music is as important now as it ever was. I don't think that we were so much a band out of time as a band that played music that was not defined by a specific time period. We took the best of all eras in. That could be why the songs still sound great today. Our music went over the heads of those caught up in the flavor of the week mentality, and still does. As we all know, the 80s were a horrible time for popular music overall. Sure, The Long Ryders having a few more hits would've been nice and maybe prevented some of us being forced back into day jobs in later life and sent our kids to better colleges. But I'm very proud of the legacy we left, and wouldn't do it any other way.

GREG: Still proud of our catalogue. Not caught out of time. Timeless in my opinion.

RWA: With the tour over, there's been talk of a live CD from the tour, but no other studio recording plans - can you clarify any of this?

GREG: Would love to do a new album with the guys. Weather and time permitting.

TOM: The Dingwall's show in London was multitrack recorded for possible release. I also have audio of most of the tour in the form of DATs recorded straight off the soundboard - some of these recordings sound good, some don't. The next step will be to hear if the multitrack tapes are worthy of release. Also, we at one time were considering a DVD, but the cost was prohibitive, so we dropped that idea. The concept of an all-new LP was never seriously discussed. We kept to the task at hand. Can't say it would never happen, because to me this tour reaffirms that anything is possible. One step at a time, though.

RWA: So, have we now seen the last of The Long Ryders? What's the likelihood of any other shows in the future? Would you do it again, if the circumstances were right?

GREG: Would love too.

TOM: Honestly, this may have been the last time you'll ever see us.We live far away from each other, we're busy with other projects, and let's face it, we could only go on for so long playing the old songs and covers. At this point we could die and still leave a good-looking corpse. That said, I'd listen to any future offers when/if they arise.

RWA: Finally, any last pearls of wisdom or message for Long Ryders fans out there?

TOM: Keep the faith - good things that seem impossible can happen in time. Don't wait for the next Long Ryders show, or funeral, to get together with those you've loved for a long time. Do it now. Please give your full support to bands that you love. You'll make a profound difference in their lives, and your own as well.

GREG: Enjoy the journey and do not worry about your destination. Thanks for the pepperoni. Love on you all.

The Long Ryders have left the building....