The Story Of The Rainbow Riders, Pt 1.

The first post for the Macomb Country Rock page comes courtesy of Craig Stahl. Mr. Stahl ran sound for several Macomb area bands. He gives us some insights into the formation of the Rainbow Riders, and also theorizes why the scene died out. For more information on the site, please scroll down to the "Welcome" section. Here's Craig:

Lived in Forgotonia in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Mixed sound for Rainbow Riders, Ken Carlylsle, Shady Grove, Pork and the Havana Ducks. Lived in the fabulous “Hobo Arms” hotel an old abandoned boxcar turned into a house at 1210 E. Wheeler. Rainbow Riders lived there and our landlord was Kenny Carlysle. I also think other guys from the band are still in or around Macomb. Mark “Duke” Lane, drums for Rainbow Riders and Cadillac Cowboys, Ed Bourell, fiddle and guitar Riders and Cowboys. Brian Davenport Harmonica for Shady Grove and Rainbow Riders, and Tommy Parker, drummer for Gin Ridge and Rainbow Riders. I moved to Nashville in 1984 and have worked for many rock and country acts on the road. Left the road last year after 28 great years and now sell real estate in Franklin, TN. I am still in touch with the founders of the Rainbow Riders, Lonnie Ratliff and Ron Kimbro. I also see Brian “ Bongo Bob” O’Hanlon from Shady Grove and the Cadillac Cowboys. Brian owns a house painting company that is pretty big, Kimbro owns Kimbro’s Café and Pickin’ Parlor in Franklin, TN and Lonnie produces records for country music singers, both guys still write songs. Macomb clubs we played included TC’s on University Av owned by former mayor Tom Carper and The Rainbow Riders Saloon on the square owned by Kimbro and TC. We had a lot of great times with a lot of great people. The music scene in Macomb back then was awesome. Lots of great bands with a wide variety of styles. The Rainbow Riders started as a joke. A benefit was held for a friend at the Highway Tavern in Plymouth, Il, better known then as the Bloody Bucket. Original lineup was Kimbro on bass, Lonnie on electric guitar, Mike Hoff on rhythm guitar, Jack Brown on fiddle, and Chuck Dixon on drums. They were freakin horrible….but they had a great time and so did the fans. The band went through many incarnations but Lonnie and Ronnie were in all of them. By the time the band busted up they were really good and had a large following around central Illinois. We would play 200+ shows a year. When the drinking age changed to 21 from 19 it hurt the music clubs, and when they tightened up on the DUI laws it sunk the small clubs and taverns out in the country, so a band like the Rainbow Riders who could gig on the weekends in the larger towns like Springfield, Peoria, Quad Cities etc. lost all their weeknight gigs in the small towns like Havana, Vermont, Carthage etc. We used to pack those places on the off nights and the DUI laws really hurt business. I’m not saying it was bad to enforce it…it just hurt business. I finally had to leave Macomb in 1984 because I couldn’t work up there. The recession at the time was such that I couldn’t make a living up there. Nashville was a new frontier and I could find a job! I have been here since and love it here. I have worked for bands from Guns & Roses to the Grand Old Opry, but I have never had as much fun in the music business as I did when I lived in Macomb. Here are some websites from some of the guys.

http://ohanlonpainting.com/

http://www.nashvillecdstore.com/

http://www.myspace.com/kimbroscafe