Beneath the mega-stadium tours that are so popular, there’s a sea of artists following community currents to dive bars and basements across the US. DIY artists pile into SUVs and minivans to bring their humble songs to intimate crowds. Despite the gritty realities of touring as a small band, Tucker Riggleman & The Cheap Dates have carried on for years. With a new album out in early 2024, their newest single “Shotgun” brings the sounds of Appalachian underground nightlife to your speakers.
After a decade of touring, Riggleman & The Cheap Dates have become a regional tour de force. Known for their energetic and engaging live shows, their most recent recording sessions with Grammy-nominated producer Duane Lundy sought to capture the band’s magnetic ethos. The band’s next record, Restless Spirit, is due out in early 2024 on WarHen Records. Luckily, we’ve got a new single to hold us over until the full album drops.
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the band’s new song “Shotgun” ahead of its early November release date. Musically, “Shotgun” sounds like the result of Steve Earle hopping on stage with Big Star in a dimly lit dive bar with a healthy dose of early Old 97’s. Riggleman’s voice rings with a prophetic honesty over overdriven guitar chords. The song’s mid-tempo lilt sounds like the open road. The lyrics pay homage to a life spent traveling from city to city. In the song’s final chorus, Riggleman sings, “And I can still hear you calling / Nothing’s gonna bring me down / Stars in our eyes are falling / I let the music bring me back around.” Riggleman & Co remain grounded in their country roots while allowing their eyes and ears to gaze up at the night sky.
There’s a magic to piling into a van with your bandmates and seeing the world through the windshield. These alt-country beatniks have managed to capture the wanderlust that fills the hearts of musicians across the globe and distill it into a three-minute pop song. “Shotgun” is a traveling song for the modern era. Now, civilians like us can experience a small taste of what it’s like out there on the road.
Listen to the tune and read our chat with the band below…
Y’all have been a band for a long time. What keeps the creative juices flowing?
While we just hit the five-year anniversary of the first-ever Cheap Dates show, it doesn’t feel like we’ve been a band very long. That is probably because life kind of seemed to stand still during the pandemic. We went almost two years without playing a show during that stretch.
I was living off the grid and getting sober in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia during that time, so I was able to focus a lot on music and writing. Not a lot of things to distract you when you’re living alone in the woods. I go through spurts and droughts with creativity, but bouncing demos and ideas back and forth with our drummer Mike Tivis Clark always helps me work things out in a way that makes sense.
Have you worked with Duane Lundy before? What was it like to work on the songs for Restless Spirit with him?
We actually made our debut album Alive and Dying Fast with Duane. He’s a bud that we know from the Lexington, KY music scene. Mike’s other bands had worked with Duane, and he had come to see us play a few times. He and I ended up chatting one night at The Green Lantern about The Cure and the vision I had for this band and our first record. We decided to work together at his studio, The Lexington Recording Company. It went so well that we hit him up again when we were ready to make the new one.
Duane is great to record with because he’s just genuinely excited about music. He’s great at allowing artists to be themselves while adding his own touch to things to make them sound their best. All of the keys and synth parts you hear on the first record are actually played by him, and he added some parts again to the new one, although this time around Lee Carroll handles most of the keys work. We made Alive and Dying Fast in a whirlwind couple of days. For Restless Spirit, Duane wanted to spend a little more time, so we ended up doing about four days with the main band in the studio.
Are the other songs on Restless Spirit inspired by being on the road as well?
The core of myself, Mike Tivis Clark and Mason Fanning have been doing this a long time in various bands over the years, so naturally a lot of the themes that accompany the touring life pop up in our music. Restless Spirit is no exception, maybe a little less so than our first album, although the song “Telecaster” is 100% about the anxiety of wanting to be out on the road in a world with no shows. An earlier version of that tune first appeared on the long distance EP that Mike and I made in 2020 in the early days of Covid, and I think that collective uneasiness is definitely still present in this new version.
Musicians writing about being musicians is one of my favorite kinds of songs, so I’m always happy to contribute, although I suspect nobody tackles that subject matter better than Fred Eaglesmith.
Did “Shotgun” change at all from its earlier iterations?
The earliest demo of “Shotgun” was made when I was still living off the grid. I emailed it to Mike and he recorded drums on his phone. I remember the chorus being this kind of tom-heavy, cymbal-less thing that was cool, but different. When we finally began to work it up together in person, Mike created a part with some crash cymbal in there and it eventually grew into what you hear on the record. It’s a rhythmically complex song compared to some of our other material, and I’m really happy with how it evolved into the finished product.
The guitar solo is actually the very last thing I recorded for the album. We kind of felt like something needed to go in that section, so Duane assigned me the homework of creating a lead. I really love the interplay between the guitar and organ in that part.
Do you have any favorite venues? Where are The Cheap Dates’ favorite haunts?
We have a sort of holy trinity of favorite venues: The Green Lantern in Lexington, KY where Mike works, The Golden Pony in Harrisonburg, VA where I used to work, and 123 Pleasant St. in Morgantown, WV where Mason lives (and super close to me). All three of these spots have a ton of history and have been so crucial to the growth and development of our band, and to the three of us as individual musicians. We love them all dearly.
What’s your advice for people who are just starting out, maybe making the drive for their first out-of-town show?
When you’re playing a place for the first time, always try to get invited back. It might seem like a small thing, but being respectful and chill will go a long way in this world. There’s no room for egos out there, so even if there’s only three people watching you play, play your ass off for them. Next time they might bring some friends, and then it’ll grow organically from there. Being a great live band is still the best way to build a following in my opinion. There’s something magical and timeless about a loud and rowdy rock and roll show. Also, drink lots of water.
One Response
Tucker Riggleman and the Cheap Dates always bring a crowd when they play the golden pony in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Their music is incredible and the songwriting is laser razor sharp. They also happen to be some of the nicest dudes around, and they always bring incredible acts on tour with them. Def a MUST SEE show!!!