Big Treehouse Records -Artists

Red Riley - Co-writer, guitar, vocals

Credits
.
Co-writer on:
.
Syncopated City

The Rules Have Changed

Ukulele Ragtime Blues

.
.
Guitar on:
.
Golden Day

It's The Little Things That Scare Me

.
.
Backup Vocals on:
.
Sticky Boiled Beans
.
.

Links
.
Want to hear a great piece of writing? Don't miss "Sadie, Dan, and Ida" as recorded by Ragwagon. Listen to it here.
.
Email - Red Riley
.
Website:
.

Photo of Red Riley by Patti Haynes, courtesy of Ragwagon

Red conducting a theory lesson at a Ragwagon seminar
©2000 Patti Haynes, courtesy of Ragwagon

.
.

.
The Life of Riley
. Red was born Dwight Douglas Wagner Riley III in the year 1967. It is commonly believed that he was born in the back of a large ragwagon pulled by a team of turtles, but this is Urban Myth, pure and simple. Red swears that it's true, however, that he was conceived in the back of the ragwagon. To this day he tips his hat to every rag vendor he sees. It may be another myth, but some say that as soon as his birth was announced, clean rags were passed out to all and sundry on the street corners of the city. Just in time, too, for this was the time of the great head cold epidemic of 1967. Doug's perceptual skills were affected by this coincidence in the strangest ways. For instance, every single time he overhears someone refer to a Squab dinner as "Supper of Dove" he thinks they have a head cold, and are referring to the year of his birth, which was, of course, the "Summer of Love."

Hey, Doug, you finish this - whaddya think, I have nothing but time on my hands? Besides, who's ever going to believe 1967? Sheesh. -Ed

OK, says Red, here's
.
The REAL Life of Riley
. Red's people call Florida's Tampa Bay area home. He set out for NYC two decades ago in search of the world's most beautiful women, and something decent to eat.
Red plans to, one day, learn to play guitar. . Now, that's funny. -Ed

Ed: I'd be proud to tell you how many years I have been working with the esteemed Mr Riley, but he won't let me. All I can say is that he is as gifted a songwriter as any I have ever had the privilege of working with, a fine singer and guitar picker in the American folk tradition, and all around good friend, good neighbor and good soul.

Doug, as he is known to his (*cough*) oldest friends, is very much to blame for reminding me, back a few (*cough, cough*) decades or so ago, that I wasn't a bad piano player, and that I should be doing a little more of that instead of fooling around so exclusively with three-stringed folk instruments like that dulcimer I was carrying around with me. He backed up his opinion by hiring me to play in his band. Both instruments. Years later he followed up on all that by repairing the old cracked dulcimer and building me the prettiest road case that I have ever seen. Just Doug's way of keeping in touch.

He is also largely to blame in more recent years for inspiring new confidence in me as a songwriter. He accomplished this by inviting me to join the revived Ragwagon Band's recording project and contribute a song or two. Now the project is finished, with five of my songs/collaborations released on the Ragwagon CD. So I say thanks, Doug, from the heart.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Sez Red:
.
"Letters From Red"
...............at Ragwagon.com

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Previous Artist Page | Next Artist Page

The "Artists" Series
A series of special pages at BigTreehouse.com that honor the individual musicians, engineers, and artists who lent their special talents to the project of making the CDs "Big Book Of Love" and "Wrong Side Of The Door" by Ed Rashed, and our way of saying thanks to them. -Ed Rashed, Big Treehouse Records.