RYEBENDER

Bio:

.. Ryebender are no ordinary rock band. And with three of four members hailing from the farthest outpost of the union, they don’t make ordinary music either. Brothers Mark and Jason Ward, fellow Alaskan Lennie Dietsch and drummer, Michael Carpenter are primed to shake Americana music to its core.Audio Link: Gravity The guitars, harmonies, songwriting and shear musical craftsmanship of the band’s debut album, ‘Hollow and Drifting’, shows that we are dealing with musicians with an unusual sense of what makes a song great. Theirs is a combination of indie sensibilities, country and folk roots and a rare sense of harmony and arrangement. The music of Ryebender is at once familiar and new, strange and comforting. It has what all great songwriting has: the moment where you only realize what is said after it has gone. On ‘Your Time Has Come and Gone’, they sing “I can’t turn the page without thinking you just can’t make it right by another wrong.” It is typical of the simplicity and beauty of their lyrics, and their music. It is the simplicity that great country based music should always have and so often does not. Maybe it is the frontier mentality that still exists in Alaska, but is missing from so much of the rest of the country, that keeps Ryebender singing about a ‘One Horse Town’ where they sing “the same old songs”. Maybe it is that mentality that makes this record sound like a paean to an America that could soon be a thing of the past. There are elements of 60’s greats like the Byrds in this music, just as there are traces of modern songwriting icons such as Ryan Adams and Uncle Tupelo. Yet, despite the comparisons, the sound of Ryebender is very much their own. And despite the fact that the original members have left their homes to move to places as far-flung as Chicago, Oregon and Sun Valley, the mood is still very much Alaskan in spirit. This band plays, sings and writes about the heart of Americana, as it is and as it was, and for that we salute them. I’m sure you will too. ‘Hollow and Drifting’ is available now in all good record stores and online at Amazon, CDBaby, iTunes and many others.

Purchase Hollow and Drifting on iTunes here:

"This is heartlands Americana that wears its influences on its sleeve without shame and pays what is often fitting tribute to them." Americana-UK

"The twelve tracks on Ryebender’s debut disc "Hollow and Drifting" range from the hook filled power pop of “I Was Wrong”, the alt countryish “One Horse Town” on to “Drunk All The Time”, one of the best protest songs of 2008." Hickory Wind review.

"There's something about those guitars and harmonies, somewhere between The Byrds and Son Volt's first records, they just makes you wanna adjust your rear-view mirror so you can watch what you're leaving fade all the way away. Good music offers cinema. This is good music guys." Matthew Ryan

"I always hear some part of the American midwest or heartland inside the rock and roll bands of Alaska. Ryebender takes me back home to those raw sounds and influences I grew up with." -- TIM EASTON

"The title track (of the CD) is a tough and elegiac alt country anthem with a high and lonesome harmonica blowing a sagebrush wind through the record’s closing moments." Americana-UK review

Whiskey and Caffeine Video on Youtube:

Member Since:

July 09, 2008

Members:

Mark Ward (guitar, vocals) Jason Ward (bass, vocals) Michael Carpenter (drums) Lennie Dietsch (guitar, vocals)

Influences:

Well.................Traditional Irish, Swedish and American music, R.E.M., Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Drive By Truckers, Ryan Adams, Leeroy Stagger, Tim Easton, Matthew Ryan, O'Kervil River, The Strokes, Katy Mae, SVT, The Beat, The Hitmen, The Heats, The Pretenders, B-52's, The Producers, The Clash, Holly and the Italians, Devo, Talking Heads, early U2, the Cure...............the whole 80's music revolution - and dear god be thanks that we're finally hearing some new ideas again - some 20 years later.

Sounds Like:

Ryebender. All songs Copyright 2008

Record Label:

Last Train Records