John Moreland and Kyle Nix of the Turnpike Troubadours allegedly got into a physical altercation at the Mercury Lounge in Tulsa. Moreland has since let his feelings be known about the whole Turnpike Troubadours band.
It really is hard to come back to reality after spending three days in picturesque Whitefish, Montana, taking in the music of some of our generation’s very top talents courtesy of the Under The Big Sky Festival.
The story of the Turnpike Troubadours is one of a victory, where the better angels of a bunch of friends from Tahlequah, Oklahoma refused to allow some moments of weakness and the outside noise to tear asunder something…
It’s the wide array of influences that the Turnpike Troubadours bring to bear in their music that makes their songs feel both wholly unique and keenly familiar, often conferring a warm feeling even upon the very first listen.
Produced by Wes Sharon who is responsible for a lot of those great old Turnpike Troubadours albums, the instrumentation of ‘After The Flood Vol. 1’ is spicy, diverse, and entertaining.
Just as much as the Turnpike Troubadours could be considered a supergroup, so can Kyle Nix’s 38’s. Together they make the 38’s less of a backing band, and more of a collaborative effort.
The Turnpike Troubadours will release a new album called “A Cat in the Rain.” The Turnpike Troubadours will release a new album called A Cat in the Rain on August 25th. It will be their first new album since 2017.
RC Edwards stumbled upon Lance Roark in 2020 during the Turnpike hiatus/pandemic when he was looking for a lead guitar player. Roark fit the bill, but has subsequently slid even deeper into the Turnpike universe while finding a way to showcase his own music at the same time.
Concept albums have been an integral part of country music history, with the release of certain projects completely reshaping the country music paradigm, including in recent memory. Just in case you need an illustration of the breadth and importance of concept albums in country music
Now celebrating five years of gathering in festival form, KOKEFest attracts a huge crowd of local KOKEheads, as well as people from across the country who want to get the genuine Texas country experience, including those who regularly listen to the station remotely online.
It’s not that the Turnpike Troubadours were just meandering along and mired in obscurity before their hiatus in May of 2019. But clearly the distance and time away made hearts grow fonder, and has acted like a slingshot for this band from Oklahoma.
“I’m not sure what a bar band from Oklahoma is doing here, but we’re sure glad to be here,” Evan Felker said from the stage. And after witnessing the set Evan and the rest of the boys from Oklahoma turned in, it wasn’t just one of those things you say to butter up the crowd.
Their official reunification occurred in Tulsa at Cain’s Ballroom in early April. They also played a series of shows at Billy Bob’s Texas in Ft. Worth April 21st-23rd. Then on Friday, May 6th they made it down to the legendary Floore’s Country Store in Helotes, TX.
With no effort at embellishment, what happened in Tulsa will go down in history—for the historical venue of Cain’s Ballroom, for the Turnpike Troubadours, for independent country music, and for country music in general. It was that paramount, and that profound.
For months folks were convinced that the show Saturday night, December 4th pairing up the side projects of Turnpike Troubadours fiddler Kyle Nix called the 38’s, and bass player/songwriter RC Edwards called RC and the Ambers, was a front for a secret Turnpike Troubadours reunion show.
Don’t ever take the moments you share with your favorite artists and bands for granted, because you never know when they could get scuttled and go away forever. That is the lesson of the last 2 1/2 years for the Turnpike Troubadours. And thankfully, that painful lesson is finally over.
Look. If you know anything about music, and anything about the Turnpike Troubadours, you had to know that betting against a reunification of this band after the indefinite hiatus they announced on May 31st, 2019 was a foolish proposition, no matter how bleak it appeared to be.
All you Turnpike Troubadours fans out there chomping at the bit for anything and everything related to the band, carve out some time on Thursday, October 28th because frontman Evan Felker will be making a very rare live appearance with his old buddy Rhett Miller.
Well well well. Fiddler Kyle Nix who released his debut solo album “Lightning on the Mountain and Other Short Stories” in 2020 amid the Turnpike Troubadours indefinite hiatus has been stepping up his live game recently with his band he’s christened The 38’s.
Fiddler Byron Berline lived many lives in one, and now it’s all come to a close, but not before leaving an impact that stretches from being a genuine Bill Monroe Bluegrass Boy, to being flown out to California to record with The Rolling Stones.
Sorry, I can’t turn you onto any new music from the Turnpike Troubadours at this turn, but I can offer you the next best thing. Turnpike bass player, songwriter, and beating heart RC “Rooster” Edwards has been working a side hustle for some years now called RC and the Ambers.
Kyle Nix has revealed that he will start playing full band shows in the coming weeks and months, upping the ante with the solo project. he also took to social media to tell his fans that a few months ago, he’d checked himself into rehab.
I haven’t wanted to do this. Because ultimately, it should be the primary members and partners of the Turnpike Troubadours who should be allowed to control the narrative about any potential reunification, or the lack thereof for the band that went on indefinite hiatus two years ago.
It could have been a disaster, or it could have not happened at all. When Mile 0 Fest rescheduled their 2021 festival from late January to late April, a lot of dominoes had to fall their way for them to pull it off. It was a risk. But they pulled it off with flying colors.