The Rifters formed in 2002 in Taos, and have released four CDs: The Rifters (2004), The Great River (2011), Live at the Sagebrush (2013), and Architecture of a Fire (2016).
Putting out more music than it seems should be right for three guys on stage, the Rifters employ a wide range of acoustic and electric instruments, combined with soaring three-part harmonies, to provide a mesmerizing variety of music from driving blue-grama-grass to ethereal desert beauty. The years of playing to the dance crowds in their northern New Mexico homeland has given their music a toe-tapping rhythm that is engaging and undeniable.
"It's music that comes from where we come from – both from the high desert and mountain landscape of our home and from the background and experiences of our lives – sort of a laid-back high-energy gentle giant old blue-buffalo-grama-grassy, cowboy, folky, shake-a-leg with a smile sort of thing. A rift is a split or a gap, sort of the like the Rio Grande Rift that we all live on or around. But this music is more about bridging gaps. For us the music is what ties all the different times and places together. We hope you enjoy it."
The Rifters are made up of Rod Taylor (guitar, mandolin, and vocals), Jim Bradley (bass and vocals), and Don Richmond (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, accordion, trumpet and vocals), each of whom is also participating in "Charlie Goodnight: His Life in Poetry and Song." You can read more about each of them on their individual pages.
