Our next featured LA Music Critic Award winning artist is one I have personally known for about 15 years, well, two-thirds of them that is. Beginning with having them in the competitive mix of both the Orange County Music Awards and later the SoCal Music Live Awards, the Fallen Stars have grown to become one of the best loved Americana bands, both in California and across America and Europe. Their latest project, Riddle & the Stars, is a boutique band formed when Australian singer-songwriter Ben Riddle joined this Orange County, California based husband and wife duo, which is composed of Bobbo & Tracy Byrnes. They were the winners of the Best Americana/Country Band category.
Sit back and learn things about this amazing band. Thanks to Bobbo for the enlightening interview.
IVB: How long have you been performing?
RATS: We met Riddle when we were touring in Germany back in late 2013. Riddle was from Australia, and he came out to spend 17 days with us in California. During that time, we wrote the entire first album, This is Happening, which debuted in 2014. We used a couple of original songs we had previously written, and Riddle contributed a couple more to the mix. We found that we were very productive in the short time we had together. When it came time to record our second album, New Coastline, we did the entire collaboration through sessions on Skype and online, and released it in May 2016.
IVB: Who are your influences?
RATS: They are all over the map – Riddle introduced us to some Australian artists like Paul Kelly and Kurt Vile, while we introduced him to some of our favorites like Kathleen Edwards, Blue Rodeo, and the Stone Roses. There really are too many to name. We love listening to Stone Roses when we’re on tour.
IVB: What made you decide to DIY?
RATS: When we (the Fallen Stars) first started, we were always waiting for a label to come in and wow us, but we got tired of waiting for that to happen. Ben was also an indie artist. The funny thing is that while we were “waiting,” we ended up getting signed to a German label, which also signed me (Bobbo) as a solo artist. They aren’t throwing heaps of money at us, but they are helping us book our tours and are managing our catalog. Now when we go to Europe we have places to play and fans who know our music. But at the heart of it all, we are so DIY that we did our own silk screening of our t-shirts in the kitchen between gigs.
IVB: Are you seeking to be a mainstream artist?
RATS: Isn’t everyone? But in today’s new music business, other local bands aren’t our competition anymore. We’re now competing with mainstream artists like Katy Perry and the like. The playing field is more level, and everyone is “competing” with us for fans and website clicks. This has created more of a worldwide audience. In fact, we (the Fallen Stars) even had a song that ended up at #43 on the German charts.
IVB: What are your future plans?
RATS: We have a European tour coming up in October after my solo tour in September, where I’m playing 25 shows in 23 days. Then I get two days off before Ben and Tracy come over and we start the tour for RATS. Our future goal is to continue making great music, to travel the world, meet new people and enjoy some wine.
IVB: Any good stories from touring/recording/performing?
RATS: The world is becoming so small. During one of our early visits to Germany, we did a house concert in Germany for about 25 people, including the mayor of the town. The next time we came around, there were 75 people. By the time we came back for the third time, the town had to build us a stage and we played forseveral hundred. They even threw us a Fourth of July party, where everyone at the show sang the National Anthem to us. I’m not the most patriotic person, but that gesture really brought me to tears. We have also played to about 600 people in a 1,000 year old cathedral, as well as playing to 700 people in a tent at a festival. Whenever we play in the small town of Achim, Germany, we end up on the front page of their newspaper. This has always been our goal from the early days of OCMA. It is what I dreamt about, but wasn’t exactly sure how we would get there. Those early competitions were great springboards for us to get known outside of California. It’s been a great ride.
IVB: What about social media?
RATS: Besides the website, we have a Facebook page.
IVB: What, no Instagram or Twitter?
RATS: Gonna set up an Instagram page right now!