The Moorpark College Symphony Orchestra will perform with legendary cowboy band Cody Bryant and the Riders of the Purple Sage at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 pm. The concert benefits the orchestra and the performing arts division. Tickets are $15, 20 and 25 and are sold through the Oxnard PAC 805 486-2424 or www.oxnard pacc.com
The original Riders band was created in 1932 to play traditional country music on KFI radio in Los Angeles. The name was taken from the 1912 popular Zane Gray western novel of the same title. In 1942 Foy Willing revitalized the band for the Hollywood Barn Dance Radio Show. Those Riders played for 20 western movies and recorded on four major labels and made famous songs like “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
In 2003 Cody Bryant brought the Riders to life once again. They perform at
music festivals, corporate retreats and concert houses reintroducing the music of forgotten singers like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
The band is not to be confused with the 1960s country rock band the New Riders of The Purple Sage or NRPS. That San Francisco-based band was put together by the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart . They adopted the then defunct Riders name to pay tribute to Willing and the old-time band. Though the NRPS disbanded in 1982, they were also revitalized by band members David Nelson and Buddy Cage in 2006 and continue to tour today.
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