Riders Ford Second Half Life

By Tonya Little

Oklahoma City, Okla. – LittleOkieLand caught up with the rocking country band Riders Ford at CastleRow Studios at the end of December, as they recorded their second major studio album, Second Half Life. The album is expected to be released in March. The band, which was founded in 2008, put out their first studio album Shot in the Dark in 2014. The band consists of members C.J Stayton, Dave Olberding, Shawn Garrison, Paul Sechrist and Clint Pope.

The title track to the new album is from the perspective of a woman entering into the dating scene again after a divorce, which many people are no doubt going to be able to relate to right off the bat.

“When you are young you have this picture of what your life is going to be and then you get half way through it and realize none of that is happening,” explained singer Stayton. “So then you get your shit together and start getting life figured out and then you start your second half life. Your second half life is always better than the first half, I always think.”

Although the song is set from a female’s perspective, it’s really for everyone who has needed to start life over again at some point.

“Second Half Life is for anybody, of course we always gear it towards females who maybe got married young and got divorced has kids but they are coming off the back side of that,” said drummer Garrison. “You learn from your mistakes. It’s about taking what you learned throughout the beginning and applying it to everything else. It’s about trying not to do all the same things you’ve done before. It’s about knowing you can work through those things and you can get it even better.”

The band was excited to be back in the studio and getting everything laid down for the album. They were as equally excited to be working with Garrett Starks, owner of CastleRow Studios, as well as producer Ron Treat who has worked with such legends as Hank Williams, George Strait and Reba McEntire just to name a few. The band also had a couple of guest musicians play parts on the album including David Short and Scott Hunt.

“Garrett and Ron have both have given us tons of directions and recommendations and actually has had production input, and that’s huge,” said Garrison. “A lot of studios you go in there and you pay them and they hit the button and record and you get what you get, it’s on you guys, and these guys have offered us so much more than that, and that’s why we’re here too.”

Other than getting the new album knocked out, the band has just been playing as many shows as possible. For them it’s all about staying in front of people and keeping new songs coming out. In 2015 they released the single “Home to Oklahoma” which performed well on the Texas charts. But they know it’s all about staying fresh in people’s minds and continually putting out quality music. Their goal for 2017 is to start expanding; expanding their fan base, the venues they play at, the areas they reach and more.

Riders Ford is going to start that goal for the new year with the release of their single “Me and Hank” coming out this month.

Check out more info on the band at www.ridersford.com and their social media sites.