Archived News 2018-2020

R.I.P. Charlie Daniels. The member of the Country Music Hall of Fame passed away on July 5 after suffering a stroke.  He was 83 years old

The photo was taken of Charlie Daniels, backed by Riverrock, at a special show for Vietnam Veterans at the Blue Springs MO Walmart in July of 1982

This is a screenshot of a page from Riverrock's 1982 promo brochure.

This has been a very rough year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Riverrock has not performed since February 7.  All of us in the music industry have had to find other ways to survive.  Gigs have been postponed, only later to be cancelled.  This may be the new normal for some time.  

All the members of Riverrock stay in touch, even though we can't get together to practice, let alone perform.  The best we can do is keep our "chops" up, individually.  We will search for ways to keep the music going.  

Please check back for any updates.  In the meantime, we welcome you to spend some time on this website, exploring our 45 years as a band, through music, videos, photos and stories of our colorful history.  And, don't forget that we still have music for sale via CD!

Congratulations to the Missouri Music Hall of Fame inductees for 2019:

Tina Turner

Arthur Pryor

Leroy Van Dyke

Dan Smith of Riverrock was in attendance at the Ceremony in St. Joseph, Missouri on November 30 and accepted the award for Leroy Van Dyke in his absence.

.Riverrock's 45 Year Anniversary Show at the Roxy in Shawnee, Kansas on Sunday, November 24, was a blast!  Performing to a packed house, the band played all the old favorites and plenty of new music.  The highlight was having Rick Harrelson return to sing songs from Riverrock's iconic "Midwest Man" album that was recorded in Nashville in 1980.  Rick's wonderful voice is still going strong almost 40 years later!  Check the video page for some of the action; "Big Mamou" shot by Roger Atkinson and "Jubilation" shot by Tom Hartnett.  Some photos, taken by Tom Hartnett, are in the slide show below.

 Riverrock shared the stage with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils on more than one occasion. They were a huge influence on the band. The Daredevils lost a founding member today and a favorite of the many thousands of OMD fans to this day. R.I.P. Steve Cash. 

Another fun night at Knuckleheads in Kansas City with John McEuen and the String Wizards.  Riverrock's Dan Smith sat in on the washboard (of course).  John McEuen and Matt Cartsonis have had many shows at Kuckleheads with assorted other special guests, but this time the whole String Wizards ensemble was in tow.  John's fellow Nitty Gritty Dirt Band alumni, Les Thompson and John Cable were treated to a wonderful reception.  

In the audience, country music legend, Leroy Van Dyke (The Auctioneer!), and his wife Gladys spent an evening enjoying the music of the String Wizards and opening act, Three Trails West.

In the photo, Les Thompson, Leroy Van Dyke, John McEuen and Dan Smith.  Now, go figure, Leroy turned 90 on October 4, but somehow looks like the youngest guy there!

John McEuen and the String Wizards bring their Will the Circle Be Unbroken tour back to Kansas City at Knuckleheads Saloon.  Hot on the heals of Ken Burns' "Country Music" documentary that aired for eight fantastic nights on PBS in September, the Circle tour has picked up steam because John McEuen's frequent appearances were so well received and much of the music from the iconic recording, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" was played in many episodes and even featured in an episode of the same title.  Don't miss this performance on Thursday, October 10 at Knuckeheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester Avenue, Kansas City MO 64120.  Call 816-483-1456 for more info.  

Oh, did we forget to mention that Riverrock's Dan Smith will be sitting in on the washboard?

Due to a change in the Go Daddy website options, the Riverrock email address of contact@riverrockkc.com will expire and no longer be in use.  Please use the Dan Smith Agency email address of dsagency@comcast.net  The Contact Page already directs email there.

Forty-five years ago on this day, Riverrock played their first gig.  It was in Lenexa, Kansas on a private farm.  The casualty list is still unknown.

Happy Independence Day!

Welcome to the new website! 

Yep, every few years, new formats become available and it's time for an upgrade. This is no easy task.  I've spent several weeks copying and pasting content from the last format, researching and verifying details about photos and videos and, mostly,  learning how to work in the new format.  

Things will be added in the months to come, so please check back every so often.  

Riverrock turns forty-five this year and we have our fans to thank for that.  We'll keep making the music for as long as we can and there's an audience to play for.  

Thanks for your support!

Regards,

Dan Smith

 From John McEuen's Facebook Music Page:

"What a great time was had by ALL in Kansas City at The Folly Theater last Friday! Rodney Dillard was great, as was Dan Smith and of course Matt, Les, and John Cable.

Special thanks go to David Hawley at Arabia Steamboat Museum, Frank Hicks at Knuckleheads Saloon, and Jon at the radio show, KCUR, KHSB for making it a successful night."

Founder of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John McEuen, makes his first appearance at the Folly Theater with his band, The String Wizards on March 15th as a part of the Folly + 90.9 The Bridge Americana Concert Series!

With two founding members of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on stage – John McEuen and Les Thompson and the String Wizards, their bluegrass mentor Rodney Dillard (founder of bluegrass icons, The Dillards) decided to come up from Salem to sit in! To add to the lineup, KC’s own Dan Smith (from Riverrock, with whom John first joined on stage in 1974) joins the Wizards Matt Cartsonis and John Cable (NGDB alumnus also), giving us a multi-media, one of a kind, knock-out acoustic show that should not be missed. People will talk about this show a long time…. you should be one of them! As John says, “so many notes! So little time!” 

 Happy New Year and congratulations to the 2019 Kansas Music Hall of Fame inductees:
The Kansas Music Hall of Fame 2019 inductees are:

Jim Dale- (Burlington)
Bill Glenn- (Wichita)
Scatband- (Topeka)
Bureman & O'Rourke- (KC)
Samantha Fish- (Bill Lee Award)- (KC)
Ida McBeth- (KC)
Warren Bernhardt- (Bob Hapgood Award)- (Holton)
Fyre- (Emporia)
Secrets*- (Lawrence)
Nation- (KC)
"Home On The Range"- (Official song of the state of KS)

The induction ceremony and concert will be Sat., April 13th, 2019 at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, KS. Tickets are available through ticketmaster, or with cash only at the Liberty Hall box office. A special KMHoF hotel rate will be available at the Lawrence Doubletree Hotel for the weekend of April 13th. Also at the Doubletree, our annual free UnPlugged event will be held on Friday, April 12th in the Boulevard Grill.

We'll see everyone at what promises to be a great induction ceremony this April!

 Congratulations to the 2018 Missouri Music Hall of Fame inductees :

SARAH CALDWELL; born in Maryville MO, founder of the Boston Opera Company. ESTHER KREEK; born in Baltimore MD, active in Missouri from 1965 to 1996, folk recording artist and expert in musicology. GENE CLARK; born in Tipton MO, grew up in Kansas City MO and Bonner Springs KS, founding member of the Byrds and folk rock icon.

The ceremony began last night at the St. Joseph Museums (home of the MMHOF museum) with a live feed via the internet of MMHOF President,Anthony Glise from his home in France. Very cool.

Sad news. Roy Clark has passed away. From 1977 to 1980, Riverrock was represented by the Jim Halsey Company. Roy was on that roster and was a business partner with Jim Halsey. 

Riverrock mingled back stage with Roy at the Tulsa International Country Music Festival in September of 1977 when we were part of that extravaganza. Roy Clark was a legend and will be missed by country music fans the world over.

 Our summer filled out very nicely with shows for Blue Springs MO Parks and Recreation and Raytown MO Parks and Recreation.  We played matinee shows at The Levee and the Roxy Bar, both are having Riverrock back this fall.  We also added some new venues to our calendar, like the Daily Limit and the KC KS Moose Lodge.  Remember to keep checking our schedule page periodically for updates. 

 R.I.P. Randy Scruggs. Riverrock was fortunate to have had his many talents grace our "Midwest Man" album that was recorded in Nashville in 1980. He was wonderful to work with and his solo work on guitar and banjo was superb. 

Congratulations to this year's Kansas Music Hall of Fame Inductees!  Here's the list:

The Kansas Music Hall of Fame 2018 inductees are: 
Split Lip Rayfield- (Lawrence/Wichita) 
Together- (Lawrence) 
Submytion- (Hays) 
Birth- (Dodge City) 
The Elders- (Bill Lee Award)- KC 
"The Producers"-Michael Waggoner, Whitten Pell, Chris Fritz (Directors Award)- KC 
Jim Reardon- (Bob Hapgood Award)- Topeka

The ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 14 at 7 PM at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts, Lawrence KS 66044.  Order your tickets from Ticketmaster or at the box office.

The new year started out on a fun note with the return of John McEuen and Matt Cartsonis to Knuckleheeads this last Saturday night and another opportunity for John to mention his connection to Riverrock and bring Dan Smith up to play washboard. 

From John McEuen's Facebook page:

John McEuen
January 14 ·
 

"What can I say Knuckleheads Saloon is always a fun fun time. Thanks for coming and will be back again I’m sure. Playing along on washboard, Dan Smith".