Release Date : February 20,, 2026
There’s no doubt about it; Mitch
Ryder is a living rock-and-roll legend.
With Ryder’s first single “That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be” released
in 1962 under the name Billy Lee & the Rivieras, his music
arrived on the scene the same year The Beatles released “Love Me Do”. Ryder is a true rock pioneer whose
songs have inspired generations of musicians with his rich melodies and
prolific lyrics. His newest album Songs
From the Road, the latest installment in the Ruf Records live music series,
consists of a riveting thirteen-track live concert CD which is joined by a companion
DVD. The album was recorded from a live
concert at Berlin’s Frannz Club in March 2025 with the DVD concert video
filmed February of 2025 in Lindewerra, Thuringia at the Gemeindesael. I started out by watching the DVD first, and
I was hooked immediately. With about a
third of the album dedicated to covering songs off his 2025 studio album With
Love, the rest is a solid mix of favorites and deep cuts. The setlists of both shows are similar with the
exception of “War” is on the CD, and “Tough Kid” is on the DVD. With Ryder delivering a captivating
performance on vocals, he is backed by a tight-as-hell band comprised of guitarist
Laura Chavez (awardee of the 2023 Blues Music Award for Best
Instrumentalist/Guitar), guitarist Sean Athans, bassist Tomek
Germann, drummer Denis Palatin, and keyboardist Léa Worms.
From the start of Worm’s distinctive keyboard intro on “Lilli May”, I’m swept off my feet and immediately fall for this gem of a single Ryder released last summer for his 2025 studio album With Love. Swirling keys, and hot guitar licks lend to a high-energy song as Ryder voices the song with a beat-poet cadence. From his 1988 album Red Blood, White Mink, he cuts loose with two fabulously constructed social commentary songs: “Ain’t Nobody White (Can sing The Blues)” and “War”. The dual guitar loaded riffs on “War” takes me back to a couple of my favorite Seventies bands: Black Oak Arkansas and The Allman Brothers. With a warm buttery bassline and intoxicating rhythm, the band rolls in for a delectable thirteen-minute psychedelic jam-tastic performance of The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen”. I love hearing Chavez and Athans break on through to a thunder-filled guitar battle-royale while Ryder expertly navigates the song with a suave fearlessness. The show comes to a close with “The Artist”, originally written as a poem by his wife Margaret Levise and put to music by Mitch. Accompanied only by Worms on keys, it is a beautiful song filled with emotion.
Delivered with musical finesse and genuine passion, Ryder’s songs are masterfully crafted with the brutal honesty of celebrating the human experience. I can’t help but lean into them. Songs From the Road is one of those albums I’ll revisit often.
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For more information about Mitch Ryder, visit his website at http://mitchryder.net/