Blauerosen

Howard Rickard and The Pale Riders or else a modern day story of ‘outlaws’ and ‘outcasts’

“…And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts And I looked, and behold a pale horse And his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him…“

When Willie Nelson released the album ‘Wanted!The Outlaws‘ with a brilliant cover which replicated the aesthetics of bounty hunters’ posters, he did it to make a comment about the position of outlaw country music in contrast to the more traditional Nashville sound. Similarly, when Johnny Cash was singing ‘Folsom Prison Blues‘ on his debut album, he was partly referring to his own life and the time he had spent in prison. One would think that these people have always been more than great songwriters with great public appeal. They were always the protagonists in their own stories, they made music out of their experiences, they have performed it with all the contextual gravity that a lived experience encompasses and they have lead lives that inadvertently inspired their songwriting. Because of that, their music has been loved so much and in such a profound way than the music of others.  (more…)