River Road is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band composed of Tony Ardoin (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals), Mike Burch (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals), Richard Comeaux (

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) 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 conve ...

), Steve Grisaffe (lead vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), and Charles Ventre (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, vocals). Founded in 1989, the band signed to

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

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 advertise ...

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

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

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 , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

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, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

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 Universal Music Group Nashville. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records, before returning ...

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 label ...

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 M ...

. 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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

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 is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, 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 f ...

and prank caller Roy D. Mercer). 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 record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

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 amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

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 used ...

*Mike Burch –

, background vocals *Richard Comeaux –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

*Steve Grisaffe –

, lead vocals *Charles Ventre –

, background vocals

Additional musicians

*Bruce Bouton –

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian 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 playing a traditional ...

J. T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 ...

– 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 m ...

– drums *Larry Franklin –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

* 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 Mike Henderson (born in Independence, Missouri) is an American singer-songwriter. Career Early career Henderson was an original member of blues group the Bel Airs when they formed in Missouri in 1981. They released an album, ''Need Me a Car'' ...

– electric guitar *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer 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, and 2016 at the Co ...

– 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 gu ...

– 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 ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

*Steve Nathan –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

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

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