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Venue Entertainment Magazine – Friday, March 14, 2003

VINTAGE COWBOY MUSIC

     Syd Masters of Edgewood had a cowboy-hero named Roy. Roy was a working cowboy in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado who, like many cowboys, drifted around.
     Syd grew up near the small town of Wabeno, Wisconsin. “He’d come back to Wisconsin and tell me stories of the Wet. He was here for a lot of that history,” Masters said. “I think he’d be 116 if he were alive.”
     Roy was Syd Masters’ paternal grandfather and his music-making also fascinated his grandson.
“He played the guitar and sang cowboy songs. He was terrible in both, but he was authentic. He made me fall in love with the music,” Masters recalled.
     Fall in love Masters did: He’s the leader of the local Western band Syd Masters and the Swing Riders.
     That’s Western, not country-western, please.
     The band’s repertoire is divided into three parts.
     One third is vintage music. “By that I mean it starts with cowboy trail songs. For example, “Red River Valley,’ ‘Cattle Call,’ those kind of old songs from the late 19th century,” Masters said.
     Another third of the band’s material is Western swing from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. The trio covers songs made famous by singing stars like Bob Wills (“San Antonio Rose”) and Hank Williams, Sr. (“Hey, Good Lookin’”) and by singing actors Roy Rogers (“When I camped Under he Stars”), Gene Autry (“Back in the Saddle”) and Tex Ritter (“Jingle, Jangle, Jingle”).
     The final third of its repertoire is comprised of songs that Masters has written.
     “But it still sounds like it’s from one of those two time periods,” Masters said. “I write the music and the lyrics.”
     Like the famous Western band Riders in the Sky, Syd Masters and the Swing Riders fills its concerts with a heap of humor.
     “We once were on stage for an hour and 15 minutes and we only did six songs,” Masters said. “The rest of the time we told jokes, and got people on stage. Sometimes we get carried away.”
     Masters didn’t always play Western music. In high school and later he played in Top 40 cover bands.
     Twenty years ago, Masters moved to New Mexico. By day, he was an independent distributor for Creamland Dairies. By night, he began singing Western music in Albuquerque area clubs.
     A stranger Masters met in one Albuquerque bar changed his tune.
     “He said, ‘If I could sound that good I wouldn’t do anything else,’” Masters remembered.
     “I decided that night to quit my day job. I needed something simple to push me over the edge and I saw myself as 0 years old saying, ‘I wish I had taken a band on the road.’”
     With the Swing Riders, Masters sings lead and plays a nylon-stringed guitar without a pick. He carries the on-stage nickname of Music Man of the West.
     Slim J, who sings and plays upright bass, has the handle of America’s Cowboy Heartthrob.
     And Uncle Bob sings harmony and plays steel-stringed guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. He’s called Everybody’s Favorite Uncle.
     The band plays regularly at O’Neil’s Uptown.
     Since it formed four years ago, the trio has played about 940 shows all over the West.
     It’s about to make a big move: The band is planning to tour all 50 states, continuing to perform at cowboy gatherings, private trail rides and concerts.
     If Roy is Syd Masters’ working-cowboy hero, then Michael Martin Murphey, a Taos resident, is his singing-cowboy hero.
     Masters said Murphey is largely responsible for the success of what Masters’ trio and other cowboy performers are able to do.
     Murphey did that by getting record companies to acknowledge cowboy music and by headlining at cowboy gatherings.
     Syd Masters and the Swing Riders have three CDs out. They are available at their shows, online at www.sydmasters.com and at these locations – Natural Sound, Borders Books and Music at Winrock Center, Barnes & Noble in Coronado Shopping Center and at four area Hastings stores. -David Steinberg

     Wildlife West – Syd Masters & the Swing Riders were, from what I had heard, a pretty darn good Western band, but I had never taken the opportunity to see them. They’ve been a staple of Wildlife West’s Chuckwagon Dinner Show every Saturday night throughout the summer to Labor Day, so it’s not very hard for a local like me to go see them.
     We finally took the opportunity and went to our first Chuckwagon Dinner. Bar-B-Que Beef and/or Chicken with side fixin’s, applesauce and a cookie made for a delicious meal and we didn’t have time to finish before the show began.
     Syd says the band specializes in, “Vintage Western Cowboy Swing,” and they are no slouches. These boys can stack harmonies on something like “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds” like they’ve come fresh from the factory.
     The band consists of Syd Masters on guitar and vocals, Uncle Bob on lead guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and vocals and Slim J, (of whom it is said is “America’s Cowboy Heart Throb”) on the upright bass and vocals. But Uncle Bob cedes, “Without Syd, we’re just, “& The Swing Riders.”
     For folks who like Western music, there is nothing not to like about the group, but Syd and the boys offer something more. Syd knows there’s a difference between being a performer and an entertainer, and every member of the band are immaculate performers. The something more is that Syd is a remarkable entertainer, and UncleBob and Slim J play to that side of Syd with perfect timing. They engage the audience with humor, a few songs “by dead people,” and a healthy selection of original material.
     Syd and the Swing Riders have garnered themselves the New Mexico Music Industry’s “Best Country Song of the Year” for the Syd Masters original, “Out in the Country.” The boys have also roped a Western Music Association worldwide nomination for singing and yodeling on the “Live & Swingin!” CD. Yee ha!
     Although Syd is an Edgewood resident, when not performing at Wildlife West, he and the Swing Riders have been headline performers at the Elko Cowboy Gathering, Western Music Association Awards Show, Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, Westfest, Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium, Rancheros Vistadores Trail Ride, Silver City Cowboy Jamboree, South Texas Ranching Heritage Festival, Carbon County Gathering of Cowboy poets, Superstition Mountain Cowboy Gathering, and many more events encompassing twelve western states. Syndicated Radio show host Rick Huff dubbed these singing cowboys the hardest working band in western music. During one stretch in 2001, they performed over 150 shows in 170 days.
     So if you have a hankerin’ to catch Syd Masters & The Swing Riders, you’ll either have to be quick or go far. They will be appearing at the July 19th Wildlife West Chuckwagon Dinner and then not again until a final show on August 23rd. In the meantime, they’ve been invited to play two shows at the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles, California on July 27th.
Their schedule until the end of the year is pretty full, but if you like to see if they’re playing a venue near you, check out their tour schedule on their website, www.sydmasters.com. -J.A.Uekert

New Mexico Magazine – December Issue, 2000

THE SWING RIDERS COWBOY UP WITH NEW RELEASE

     New Mexico favorites Syd Masters and the Swing Riders are back in the saddle again with their second release, Live and Swingin’. The trio of Syd Masters, Uncle Bob, and Slim J has long been a favorite of boot-scooters across the state. The live album includes recordings made at the Mineshaft Tavern in Madrid, Thunderbird Ski Lodge in Taos, La Fonda in Santa Fe and Home of the Half-Breed in Tijeras. It captures the audience’s unbridled enthusiasm and the band’s off-the-cuff witticisms, which are worth the cover price alone (barring the occasional groaner).
     Unlike their first release, Sunset on the Rio Grande, the newest CD is comprised of all classic covers with the exception of the first track, “Swing Rider Anthem” (“No more diggin’ post holes / a singin’ we do go / we are the Swing Riders / from New Mexico”). “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” “San Antonio Rose” and “Stay All Night” do Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys proud, and Hank Williams would crack a smile hearing his “Long Gone Lonesome Blues.”
     Masters takes rhythm guitar and lead vocals on most tracks, with Uncle Bob and Slim J’s harmonies adding a smooth layering as pretty as mesa country. Bass player Slim J takes lead vocals with a convincing Scottish accent on “I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day.” Uncle Bob plays an arsenal of instruments, including lead guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and kazoo, making the band sound a lot larger than a trio.
     While Live and Swingin’ is a sure bet for the classic lovers, Sunset on the Rio Grande is definitely a New Mexico-inspired album. Masters pens six of the 13 tracks, which include “Under New Mexico Skies,” “Cottonwood Snow,” “Sunset on the Rio Grande” and “La Veta.” While all originals, they have the timeless country sound that’d be sure to get a nod from Hank.
     Both of the Swing Rider albums are available at Borders Books and Music and Natural Sound in Albuquerque, or by contacting the band at (505) 281-5221. To learn more about the group and their performance schedule, log on to www.sydmasters.com or e-mail swinginsyd@aol.com. -Steve Larese

· Laughs and dancing come with these vintage cowboy swing sounds that appeal to all ages

     If you don’t want to have a good time, don’t go see Syd Masters and the Swing Riders.
     But if you want great music from a band of multi-talented, merry men – and if you like chuckles and belly laughs along with your music and dancing – look no further.
     Syd Masters of Edgewood, “Uncle Bob” of Carnuel and “Slim J,” a University of New Mexico student from Albuquerque, have been together as a band for only a year or so. To hear their smooth-as-silk harmonies and watch their effortless interaction and good-natured banter, you would think they had been together for years.
     “We’re similar people with the same dry, witty personality,” Masters explained. “We hang out together, rehearse and do a lot of shows.
     “I have played with others where I was the band leader and felt like I had to be a boss, too,” Masters said. With this band, he said, he’s just one of the members.
     Syd Masters and the Swing Riders bill their style as “Vintage Western Cowboy Swing.” Country isn’t in their title or their repertoire. They are serious musicians having a seriously great time presenting music from the old days, when cowboys sang songs about the ups and downs and heartaches of life. They perform old standards by Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers and Hank Williams, Sr.
     They avoid playing music written by anybody who is alive now except themselves.
     A Study of the crowd at the Home of the Halfbreed in Sandia Park on Saturday night, about half of which consisted of “followers” of the band, led to the conclusion that it is music for all ages. Dancers ranged from people old enough to remember the original artists and songs, to little boys and girls dancing alone or with their parents.
     “The most interesting thing of all that I do, and it’s completely unintentional, is that somehow I have managed to put something together that appeals to every age group,” Masters said. “The older folks remember the music, People in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s love it for dance music. Younger people think we’re some kind of Alt Western band. Little kids will come up and stare at us, and start to dance. It’s fun, happy, uplifting music.”
     About 17 years ago, Masters made his way to New Mexico from Wisconsin.
     “I’m not much of a city guy. I came from the backwoods of Wisconsin,” he said. Outfitted in rolled-up jeans, black hat, red bandanna and a colorful shirt, Masters joked, “They threw me out because I was the only one dressed like this.”
     His heroes are Bob Wills, Gene Autry, Hank Williams Sr. and Roy Rogers.
     “I always loved the West, and Western swing. I wanted to live where all that stuff was from,” he said.
     He played solo for a while around the West and came to the conclusion that he should start a band.
     “I noticed a void for a band that played old cowboy and Western swing,” he said.
     Masters is a songwriter as well as a singer and guitarist. Although he started playing a saxophone at age 5 and picked up another instruments as time went on, he never had any music lessons.
     After his solo act, he was with two other bands before forming this one. He used to perform stand-up comedy in San Francisco, and readily admits he gets a “little silly” on stage at times, especially during longer shows.
     Originally from Long Island, Uncle Bob is an accountant by trade. His cowboy duds seem a bit more conservative than the other two. He has been playing music for more than 30 years, 27 of those in New Mexico. He met Masters at a poker game and the rest is history.
     Also a singer, Uncle Bob plays the guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and kazoo. He is currently working on learning to play the fiddle his wife, Charley, gave him for Christmas.
     Slim J is majoring in music composition and theory at UNM. He sings, writes and plays an enormous bass that was crafted sometime in the 1930’s. At a fresh-faced 23 years of age, he certainly isn’t old enough to remember firsthand any of the music he plays so well, but he seems to have taken to it like a duck to water.
     He dresses the part, too, with rolled-up jeans, cowboy shirt, bandanna and a white hat he bought at Thrift Town – he said the hat is about as old as his bass.
     He met Masters when their respective bands rehearsed in the same place. After both bands broke up, and having become familiar with one another, it seemed a natural progression to join Syd Masters and the Swing Riders. He likes playing songs that have parts for an upright bass, and likes old cowboy songs.
     “It’s really fun music,” he said. “I like singing this kind of harmony.”
     The band plays regularly at the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid, and at a Western dance every Sunday night at the Old West movie set on the Eaves Ranch off North N.M 14. They also perform Fridays and Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day at Wildlife West Nature Park’s family-style sunset chuckwagon dinners in Edgewood.
     They do travel to music festivals around the West, and will headline the Silver City Jamboree from April 13-15. They are also available for private events such as business parties, weddings, dances and conventions.
     “We want to travel a lot more, tour more,” Masters said. “We want to keep writing and recording. We want to get into Europe and Australia where they love this kind of music. Do you know what the top band in Ireland is right now? A band called “Texas’.”
     Their CD, “Sunset on the Rio Grande,” is available at Borders Books and Music and at Bob’s Western Wear in Albuquerque.
     Masters summed up the band’s goals: “This is the last thing any of us want to do. Music is how we choose to make a living.”
     To get on an email list of the band’s performance dates, send Masters a note at Swinginsyd@aol.com or give him a call at 281-5221. -Sandy Starr