Tinker rocks

CJ Stayton and Paul Sechrist are both members of Riders Ford, a local Red Dirt band which features Mr. Stayton as the lead singer and acoustic guitarist and Mr. Sechrist on bass guitar. Mr. Stayton is an air traffic controller with the 72nd Operations Support Squadron and Mr. Sechrist is a sheet metal mechanic with the 551st Commodities Maintenance Squadron. Riders Ford has recently been nominated for Modern Song of the Year for their song, ‘The Bottle Don’t Help Anymore.’ (Air Force photo by Kelly White/Released)

Tinker rocks

Todd Neece, an industrial engineer tech-planner in the B-52 Planning Section with the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, is the bass player for Small Town Sound, a local Red Dirt band. The band has recently been nominated for several awards, including Southern Rock Entertainer of the Year, Southern Rock Song of the Year, Modern Country Song of the Year and Modern Country Performer of the Year. (Air Force photo by Kelly White/Released)

Tinker rocks: Three men making waves on Red Dirt music scene

Published Aug. 21, 2015
By Kimberly Woodruff
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Riders Ford released its second album "Shot in the Dark," in 2014. The album charted four singles, with "This Ain't a Song" becoming their very first Top 40 hit.

"We learned a lot with that record," Mr. Stayton said. "After recording, mastering, production, marketing, promotion and videos we learned it takes money to make a hit -- we did it all without financial backing."

As far as writing songs goes, Mr. Stayton said inspiration comes from all over -- life experiences, emotions or they write "just plain drinking songs." He said it might start with a line in his head, a cool guitar riff or "even a series of text messages until we play it together."

Mr. Sechrist, who has been employed at Tinker for 16 years, is the bass player, gear head, repair technician, sound engineer and jack-of-all-trades for Riders Ford.
"Paul was an invaluable addition to the band," said Mr. Stayton.

Mr. Sechrist has been playing music for 20 years, but has been with Riders Ford for just two years after answering Mr. Stayton's online ad. His biggest influence came from his dad, who loves music and took him and his siblings to see bands play.
"Dad never played, but after us kids learned, he decided to take it up at the age of 65. He now plays for his church," said Mr. Sechrist.

Musical influences are somewhat varied for Mr. Sechrist. He is a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers -- whose bass player is "awesome," he said -- and he also likes the harmonies of Diamond Rio.

Mr. Stayton said three men changed his life and set him on the path to pursue his music. Garth Brooks, who sang a song about a worn out tape of Chris LeDoux -- "Every cowboy had a Chris LeDoux tape," said Mr. Stayton. There was also Steve Earl, who changed the way Mr. Stayton viewed song writing, and Pat Greene who blazed a trail for Texas/Red Dirt artists.

"You get to a point in life where you chase your passion," Mr. Stayton said. "For me, it's playing music. Plus it's pretty cool to see yourself in a video or have your own Spotify channel."

Both bands are establishing themselves through online radio, and are building quite a fan base. They have fans in Oklahoma and Texas, but also Boston, Philadelphia, New York, North Dakota and even in Europe.

Fans can follow both groups on Facebook and Twitter and check out their songs wherever digital music is sold.

"We're all just trying to bring recognition to Oklahoma music," said Mr. Neece.