-
DOO-WAH RIDER BIOGRAPHY
The band appeared in the movie "Basic Instinct", starring
Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. They were featured doing one of
their own songs, "Glowing in the Ashes". They ap-peared on TNN's
"Prime Time Country" and on the prime time television Dick Clark
Production "Will You Marry Me?"
There is no one else like the Doo-Wah Riders. For over 30 years
they have been riding their own patch of the musical range
throughout the west. They possess the rare combination of many
years of experience and youthful energy, fired by a love for what
they do. The Doo-Wahs are country, with a unique, original sound.
They define their sound as "high energy country with a cajun
twist". Their tight musicianship and powerful arrangements of
clas-sic and original songs have made them favorites everywhere
they go.
The Doo-Wah Riders have appeared in concert with: Garth Brooks,
George Strait, Alabama, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Brooks and Dunn,
Chris LeDoux, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Alison
Krauss, The Judds, Tracy Lawrence, Brad Paisley, Lone Star, Clint
Black, Asleep at the Wheel, Jodee Messina, Randy Travis, The Oak
Ridge Boys, Richochet, Travis Tritt, Marty Stuart, Leann Rimes,
Mark Wills, John Denver, Ricky Van Shelton, K. D. Lang, Mark
Chestnutt, Jo-El Sonnier, The Statler Bros., Jerry Jeff Walker, and
Joan Jett. In addition to being artists in their own right, the
Doo-Wah Riders have served as a back-up band for: Collin Raye, Pam
Tillis, Glen Campbell, Deanna Carter, Bryan White, George Jones
& Chalee Tennison, Billy Ray Cyrus, Neal McCoy, Lee Ann Womack,
Martina McBride, Mark Wills, Chad Brock, Clay Walker, Rick Trevino,
Moe Bandy, Aaron Tippin, Doug Supernaw, The Kinleys, Shelby Lynn,
and other country legends. http://doowahriders.com
-
ADMISSION: $5 FOR
ALL AGES.
All proceeds after expenses benefit the cancer support
& assistance in H.C.
BURNS
GARAGE
-
DOO-WAH RIDERS
KENNY LEE BENSON—VOCALS, ACCORDIAN,
KEYBOARD, &
HARMONICA
and honky tonks of New Mexico and study music "seriously." I
left Albuquerque and moved to Boston to go to music school. After
two semesters I ran out of money and did what came natural...
playing country music in beer joints and honky tonks. This time in
the Northeast. In spite of playing with some won-derful people and
players (including the legendary Sleepy La-Beef), I came to the
realization that no matter where I was, I was always playing the
"the worst place in town" and decided to get the hell out of Dodge.
Torn between moving to Nashville and Los Angeles (I had an "ex" in
Texas), I let my record collection decide for me. Emmy-lou Harris,
Rodney Crowell, Brian Ahern, Byron Berline, Albert Lee and Chris
Hillman were all in California and making the kind of records I
wanted to make, so I packed up and moved there. Once again, I went
to school and studied arranging and orchestration with Dick Grove
in Studio City, California (my cur-rent home). One night after
playing music at a friend's house, the guitar player and I stood in
the parking lot and talked about country music until the wee hours
of the morning. We found that we had a mutual passion for Bob
Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, Guy Clark and, of course, Emmylou
Harris; we decided that we should put a band together just for
"laughs." Little did I know that the band would become a major part
of my life and that I'd still be working with Lindy Rasmusson 30
years later!
When I was in my early 20s I decided to quit playing coun-try
music in the beer
-
DOO-WAH RIDERS It all started June 3, 1970 when I was born in
Colfax, Washington. Well.....it ac-tually started 9 months
prior......but we won't get into that. At age 6 I saw a vio-lin
demonstration at school. I told my parents about it, and how I
wanted to play violin. They eventually said yes. I started
classical training using the Suzuki Method. My teacher was Jan
Wasson. I did well with it, but wearing suits and playing stuffy
recitals was not for a red-neck farm boy like myself! So I started
fiddling at the age of 12. My fiddle teacher was Tony Ludiker, and
he taught me Texas-style Contest Fiddle. I com-peted in numerous
contests around the northwest, including the National Fiddle
Contest in Weiser, ID. At this time I also started playing guitar
and mandolin. I still try to compete in contests, and have placed,
and won a few around the coun-try, including 10th place in the
Champion Division at the Nationals (1992, 1998). KEITH
NIEHENKE—VIOLIN
At age 16 I started to branch out with my mu-sic. I was playing
swing, jazz, bluegrass, 50's rock, and country. I started teaching
myself lead guitar by listening to Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and
Duane Eddy. I also began singing a little. When I was 18 I moved to
Spokane, Washington. When I turned 19 I started play-ing at a honky
tonk called Kelly's in Stateline, ID. I was playing with Kelly
Hughes and the Kelly Hughes Band. This was the premiere country act
in the northwest, and Kelly's was the place to be. We opened for
numerous Nashville acts, such as Clay Walker, Waylon Jennings,
Merle Haggard, and Collin Raye.
-
DOO-WAH RIDERS
LINDY RASMUSSEN:
VOCALS, ELECTRIC & ACOUSTIC GUITAR
Raised in the "not-so-country" town of North Hollywood,
California, Lindy began banging out the tunes on the guitar to the
"California Country Sound." But The Eagles, Fogelberg and Michael
Martin Murphey only lead to harder stuff. Asleep at the Wheel, Guy
Clark and other "Cosmic Cowboys" lured him out of the art school
classroom and into the honky tonks where he was fatefully
introduced to Kenny Lee Benson. From there The Doo-Wah Riders were
born. Almost 20 years later, the two have opened for or backed up
nearly everyone in the country world.
-
PAUL LORANGER:
BASS
DOO-WAH RIDERS
At the age of 9, Paul saw his uncle’s wedding band playing.
Seeing the upright bass being played, he thought to himself that’s
what he wanted to play that when he grew up. Brought up in a
musical family he played piano until he was 12. He asked to play
upright in JR High but saying he was too short, they gave him a
baritone horn to play. Paul began playing bass and guitar when he
was 16. By the time he was 17, he was playing bass professionally.
Although not his major in college, he studied music in college.
While attending school full time he also played 4-5 nights a week.
After college, Paul began tour-ing. Through out the years Paul has
been fortunate enough to play in every country in Western Europe,
most of Eastern Europe, Japan, Austria, South Africa and all of the
United States except Alaska. Paul loves being on the road and
per-forming live.