River Road is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

band composed of Tony Ardoin (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals), Mike Burch (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, vocals), Richard Comeaux (

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

), Steve Grisaffe (lead vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

), and Charles Ventre ( keyboards, vocals). Founded in 1989, the band signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

Nashville in 1997, releasing their self-titled debut album that year and charting three singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country charts, including the top 40 hit "Nickajack". By 1998, River Road had transferred to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

Nashville, charting a fourth single and recording an unreleased album (''Somethin' in the Water''). Ventre and Grisaffe each began solo careers in the 2000s, but they reunited with Ardoin and Burch in 2011 to release a new extended play.

History

River Road was formed in 1989 in the state of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

by lead singer and bass guitarist Steve Grisaffe, who had previously played in other bands in Louisiana. Completing the original roster were drummer Eddie Bodin (later replaced by Mike Burch), guitarist/vocalist Tony Ardoin, steel guitarist Richard Comeaux, and keyboardist Charles Ventre. In 1991, the band placed second in a National

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

Country Music Contest, in addition to touring throughout their native Louisiana. Eventually, they were signed to

Capitol Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States–based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee, operating as part of the Music Corporation of America. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records. While under the Li ...

after considering deals with

Almo Sounds Almo Sounds was a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent for the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label. The labe ...

and

Rising Tide Records Rising Tide Records was a record label started by Doug Morris, former head of Warner Music Group, and Daniel Glass, who became president. The label had success in breaking new artists, including the multi-platinum debut of Erykah Badu, Billie ...

. River Road's first album, also titled ''River Road'', was released in 1997. Overall, this album produced three chart singles on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts: "I Broke It, I'll Fix It", "Nickajack" (which entered Top 40), and "Somebody Will". The album was co-produced by Scott Hendricks and Gary Nicholson. ''Billboard'' gave "Nickajack" a positive review, saying that it was "crisp and radio-friendly" and "could be the single that helps set this new quintet apart." When

opened its

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, division in 1998, River Road was transferred to Virgin Nashville, becoming one of the first three acts signed to that division (the other two being singer

Julie Reeves Julie Reeves (born June 18, 1974) is an American country music recording artist and radio personality. She has had three hit singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart with two of those singles charting in the Top 40. Reeves was form ...

and prank caller

Roy D. Mercer Roy D. Mercer was a fictional character created by American disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performed Mercer's voice, used the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which ...

). While on Virgin, the band began work on its second studio album (2000's ''Something in the Water''), with its lead-off single "Breathless" charting as well. Virgin Nashville was dissolved by the end of the year, and ''Somethin' in the Water'' was never released, although the title track would become a Top 40 hit for its writer,

Jeffrey Steele Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961), known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit ...

, when he recorded it a year later. By the end of the year, River Road had disbanded, with both Ventre and Grisaffe pursuing solo careers. Grisaffe released an album titled ''Current Status'' in 2001 on an independent label. Ardoin, Burch, Grisaffe, and Ventre reunited in 2011 to release an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

on the Star Records label.

''River Road'' (1997)

Track listing

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.

River Road

*Tony Ardoin –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Mike Burch –

, background vocals *Richard Comeaux –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

*Steve Grisaffe –

, lead vocals *Charles Ventre – keyboards, background vocals

Additional musicians

*Bruce Bouton –

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

* J. T. Corenflos – electric guitar *

Chad Cromwell Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004. Cromwell has worked with mu ...

– drums *Larry Franklin –

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

* Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar *

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

– bass guitar *

Mike Henderson Michael James Henderson (July 14, 1953 – September 22, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter. In addition to his solo career, which included five studio albums, Henderson was a member of the country band The SteelDrivers from 2005 to 2011 an ...

– electric guitar *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– electric guitar *

John Jorgenson John Richard Jorgenson (born July 6, 1956) is an American musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, he is also proficient on the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel g ...

– electric guitar,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

*Steve Nathan –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

*Michael Spriggs – acoustic guitar

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Charles Ventre official websiteRiver Road official website
{{Authority control Country music groups from Louisiana Musical groups established in 1989 Capitol Records artists Virgin Records artists