Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

“Here’s to life!” Fans around the world can be found singing the chorus of the Roger Clyne-penned fan favorite “Mekong” and toasting their glasses in unison to celebrate life through rock-n-roll. But the inspiration for the song dates back to the time Roger went to Taipei, Taiwan, as a college student to teach English during the day and busk with his guitar at night for money.

Today, as Clyne prepares to record his 11th studio album, he continues to transform his life experiences, inspirations, observations and his own muses into timeless music.  And whether he’s wearing his Converse high tops, boots or sandals, Clyne’s blend of punk rock, country-western and mariachi influences have made him, drummer PH Naffah, guitarist Jim Dalton and bassist Nick Scropos – collectively known as Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers – one of America’s best live rock-n-roll bands.

Starting with the seminal Tempe quartet, The Refreshments, Clyne and Naffah put the fun in rock during the 90s grunge era with a sense of humor. They also started what would become a trademark sound on all future albums by adding mariachi horns, something Clyne was influenced by while in college studying Cultural Anthropology with an ethnography study of mariachis during a three month immersion stay with a local family in Ensenada, Mexico. 

The Refreshments’ debut album, “Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy,” became a cult classic. It produced the alternative radio hit “Banditos” which also had significant airplay on MTV and earned The Freshies an appearance on The Conan O’Brien Show. Clyne then penned and performed the theme song for the Mike Judge animated TV series, King of Hill.  In 2017, Here’s to Life: The story of The Refreshments, was released. The feature-length documentary was a hit with fans and critics alike.

Changes within their record label and internal band issues resulted in Clyne and Naffah going on a vision quest of sorts in the Whetstone Mountains near the Clyne Ranch in Southeastern Arizona. It was there that Clyne found inspiration in the rolling hills and the jukeboxes of small town taverns that still played Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash – music he had shed from his youth in favor of bands like Camper Van Beethoven & They Might Be Giants. But after reconnecting with those old country records, Clyne and Naffah wrote and recorded under a new moniker what would become Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers’ debut album, “Honky Tonk Union.”

The album was the perfect combination of classic rock and twang, and fans immediately connected with it. Their independent release, “Honky Tonk Union,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s internet sales chart in 1999 prompting a call from a Billboard exec to their Manager demanding, “ Who the hell is Roger Clyne and why is he #1 on my chart?!” beating out much better known artists

RCPM released eight more albums that landed in the top ten of Billboard’s Internet Sales Chart, including a No. 1 debut for their third album, “Americano!” – all without the backing of a major record label and while flying under the radar of commercial radio.

In 2019, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers were inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, joining the likes of fellow Arizona legends Alice Cooper, Buck Owens, Glen Campbell, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt and Waylon Jennings.

Later that fall, RCPM was invited by a man who, like Roger, also knows a little something about tequila and throwing big parties in Mexico. The band headlined Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina on the eve of Hagar’s weekend birthday celebration.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have curated their own annual music festival, Circus Mexicus, in the sleepy beach town of Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, which draws  thousands of fans from around the world. The festival not only has a major impact on the local economy, but charity events hosted by the band and fans alike help raise money for a local orphanage, support local youth sports and help feed shelter animals.  

Clyne not only sings about life in the border-lands, he also produces his own ultra-premium spirit, Mexican Moonshine Tequila (soon to be re-named Canción Tequila).  Owned by the entire band, it was the official tequila at the Arizona Diamondbacks Chase stadium in 2016, 2017 and 2018.  Started in 2011, the award-winning spirit is distributed in multiple states as well as Sonora, Mexico. 

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have toured all over the US and achieved a faithful following through hard work and great music.  They have done this all while being independent, without the safety net of a label or a label’s radio promotion department.  Dubbed “The Springsteen of the Southwest,” by the Asbury Park Press. The band delivers exciting live performances that garner declarations like the one from emcee Jay Peterman of the Seinfeld TV show at Alice Cooper’s annual Christmas Pudding event, “Young man, you light that stage a-flame!” 

“I’m the king of Music Row,” says Ike Reilly.  Standing on the stoop of his recording studio with his arms wide open, the songwriter claims the whole street as his musical kingdom.  For the former gravedigger and doorman, Music Row is just one house.  It’s the 100-year-old bungalow wedged between a nail salon and an insurance agency in Libertyville, Illinois. This is where Reilly now makes his records.  

Reilly has been creating rebellious punk/folk/country/blues-influenced rock ’n’ roll records that are poetic and cinematic.  Critical praise for his work has been plentiful, and he has garnered a wildly loyal fan base -- from faithful fans in the dirty bars and rock clubs in the middle of nowhere to legendary authors. Reilly’s songs have a unique universality that affects people.  Author Stephen King wrote that Reilly’s travel band saga, “Boltcutter,” was “the best new song to come out of the Trump era.” The New York Times called Reilly’s longtime band, The Assassination, one of the best live bands in America, and once again they show their dexterity and growth on Reilly’s new offering, Because the Angels.

Blown-out speakers, marijuana shoes, tire fires, and abandoned driers all litter the suicide highways in the final track of Because the Angels, the epic “Racquel Blue.” This broken-beat, dubstep-tinged folk song could be on the soundtrack to some lost spaghetti western, but the song itself is too powerful and majestic to take a back seat to any film.  Once again, the band proves their agility in handling the space in this musical mystery.  Guitarist Phil Karnats paints the sonic landscapes with his signature swells and runs and never gets in the way of the narrative. Is Racquel Blue a woman? Is Racquel Blue a drug? Maybe Racquel Blue is a mythical destination? Who knows. But within the mystery, there is a grandiosity and familiarity. An unlikely place for “hooks,” “Racquel Blue” has one of Reilly’s most timeless and memorable choruses, and a haunting group vocal “B” section, sung by Reilly’s own children, that is certain to generate communal singing wherever “Racquel Blue” is performed or played.