McBride & the Ride

McBride & the Ride is an American country music band consisting of Terry McBride (lead vocals, bass guitar), Ray Herndon (background vocals, guitars), and Billy Thomas (background vocals, drums). The group was founded in 1989 through the assistance of record producer Tony Brown. McBride & the Ride's first three albums — Burnin' Up the Road, the gold-certified Sacred Ground, and Hurry Sundown, released in 1991, 1992, and 1993, respectively — were all issued on MCA Nashville. These albums also produced several hits on the Billboard country charts, including the Top 5 hits "Sacred Ground" (their highest-peaking, at No. 2), "Going Out of My Mind", "Just One Night", and "Love on the Loose, Heart on the Run". In 1994, the label removed Herndon and Thomas from the group, which was renamed Terry McBride & the Ride. McBride remained lead singer, while the other members were replaced with Keith Edwards (drums), Kenny Vaughan (electric guitar), Gary Morse (steel guitar), Jeff Roach (keyboards), and Randy Frazier (bass guitar), formerly of the band Palomino Road. Roach and Vaughan were respectively replaced by Rick Gerken and Bob Britt shortly before their fourth album (1994's Terry McBride & the Ride), after which McBride & the Ride disbanded. During the hiatus, MCA issued a compilation called Country's Best, while McBride and Herndon wrote singles for other artists. McBride, Thomas, and Herndon reunited as McBride & the Ride in 2000, releasing Amarillo Sky on Dualtone Records in 2002 before splitting up again. McBride later joined the backing band for the duo Brooks & Dunn and continued to write singles for other artists, while Herndon self-released a solo album, and Thomas joined The Time Jumpers. McBride & the Ride re-established a second time in 2021. McBride & the Ride was created in 1989 when Tony Brown, then the executive vice president of MCA Records, decided to establish a new country music band in order to compete with Alabama, who he thought was falling out of favor with country radio. At the time, guitarist Ray Herndon (born July 14, 1960) was serving as a backing musician for Lyle Lovett, then a recording artist for MCA. Brown suggested that Herndon join lead vocalist Terry McBride (born September 16, 1958), whom Herndon did not yet know, in the new band that Brown had planned. McBride, a musician since childhood, had worked as a backing musician for his father, Dale McBride, and later for Delbert McClinton and Rosie Flores. At the Fan Fair (now CMA Music Festival) in Nashville, Tennessee, Brown introduced McBride and Herndon to drummer Billy Thomas (born October 24, 1953), who had previously played for Emmylou Harris and Mac Davis, and the band's lineup was in place. Brown had also chosen steel guitarist Steve Fishell to be a fourth member, but Fishell declined and chose to work as a record producer instead. The trio pitched their songs through the assistance of songwriters Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth, and four of those demos ended up on the band's first album. McBride & the Ride performed its first concert in Detroit, Michigan. In 1990, the band released its debut single "Felicia", which peaked at number 74 on the RPM country charts in Canada in 1990 but did not enter the US country charts. Its followup, "Every Step of the Way", failed to chart in both countries. The band was almost dropped from MCA's roster due to poor chart performance, until the release of "Can I Count on You", which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard country charts and was made into a music video. This song's success led to the release of McBride & the Ride's 1991 debut album Burnin' Up the Road, on which McBride co-wrote all but one of the songs. The last single from this album, "Same Old Star", peaked at number 28. After the album's release, the band began touring the United States with The Judds and Highway 101. During the band's earliest years, its members were featured prominently on other artists' albums. Thomas also played drums for The Remingtons, a country vocal group featuring former Bread member Jimmy Griffin, on its 1991 debut album Blue Frontier, while Thomas and Herndon sang background vocals on then-labelmate Marty Stuart's 1991 album Tempted. Finally, McBride and Thomas sang on the track "How Do I Break It to My Heart" on Kenny Rogers' 1991 album Back Home Again. Sacred Ground, the band's second album, came out in 1992. This album was McBride & the Ride's most successful, with all three of its singles reaching Top 5 on the country charts: "Sacred Ground" at number 2, followed by "Going Out of My Mind" (which McBride co-wrote with Kostas) and "Just One Night," both at number 5. "Sacred Ground" was co-written by Kix Brooks, who had previously released the song in 1989 from his self-titled debut album for Capitol Records before joining Ronnie Dunn to form Brooks & Dunn in 1991. In 1992, McBride & the Ride received a Top New Vocal Group or Duo nomination from the Academy of Country Music and Vocal Group of the Year nomination from the Country Music Association. More than four years after its release, Sacred Ground was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping 500,000 copies. Despite these sales, McBride remarked that the band still nearly lost its recording contract, due to other artists on the label selling even more strongly. McBride & the Ride's third album, Hurry Sundown, was released in 1993. It produced the band's fourth and final Top 5 hit in the number 3 "Love on the Loose, Heart on the Run" (which Kostas also co-wrote), as well as a Top 20 in its title track, the only other single release. "Hangin' In and Hangin' On", the B-side to "Love on the Loose, Heart on the Run", was later released by David Ball as a single from his 1996 album Starlite Lounge. In 1994, the band charted its last Top 40 hit, "No More Cryin'", which McBride and Josh Leo co-wrote for the soundtrack to the film 8 Seconds. The same album featured John Anderson's rendition of the title track to Burnin' Up the Road. Also that same year, McBride & the Ride recorded a cover version of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Saturday Night Special" on the MCA compilation album Skynyrd Frynds, which featured country artists' renditions of Lynynrd Skynyrd songs. By March 1994, Herndon and Thomas left the group, as the label had decided to shift the band's focus to McBride, and Herndon did not want to be "push[ed] to the background." According to Herndon, the members "parted as friends." A new bass guitarist, Randy Frazier, was brought in, also as part of the label's decision to focus more on McBride. Frazier had previously been a member of Palomino Road, which recorded one album for Liberty Records in 1992. Completing the new lineup were Keith Edwards (drums), Kenny Vaughan (lead guitar), Gary Morse (steel guitar), and Jeff Roach (keyboards), who had previously played in McBride & the Ride's road band. McBride then bought the naming rights to the band and renamed it Terry McBride & the Ride. One album (also titled Terry McBride & the Ride) and three singles were released under the new name, with Josh Leo serving as producer. By the time of the album's release, Rick Gerken had replaced Roach, and Bob Britt had replaced Vaughan. Additionally, only McBride and Morse performed on it, with the rest of the instruments performed by session musicians and Roach. The album's singles, "Been There", "High Hopes and Empty Pockets", and "Somebody Will", all failed to reach Top 40, and the band broke up in 1995. River Road later released a version of "Somebody Will" from their 1997 self-titled debut album, and George Ducas released "Teardrops", a cut from Terry McBride & the Ride, on his 1994 self-titled debut album. MCA released a compilation package entitled Country's Best in 1996, which included their first ten singles, from "Felicia" to "No More Cryin'". Herndon and McBride both worked as songwriters during McBride & the Ride's hiatus. Herndon co-wrote Kenny