Nashville’s Cimarron 615—a dynamic new band comprised of experienced musicians with extensive backgrounds collaborating with renowned hit makers and music icons—today unveils their new single, “Butte La Rose.” This track marks the first release from their upcoming self-titled album, set to drop on February 28, 2025, via Blue Élan Records.
Among the first laid down by Cimarron 615, the Louisiana-infused “Butte La Rose” was originally recorded during their Open Road days. The band is accompanied by Aubry Richmond of Mustangs of the West on fiddle, while Webb adds accordion to enhance the authentic Cajun vibe, as Sundrud describes it.
On the album, the quartet—Jack Sundrud, Michael Webb, Rick Lonow, and Ronnie Guilbeau—has further refined their Americana sound, weaving together a rich tapestry of influences and experiences that feel both fresh and uniquely their own. “We feel like a real band; we’ve been working a lot,” says bassist Sundrud. “I think it’s really gelled as a band with the four of us. It really is a good fit.”
Adds drummer Lonow, “After doing that (first album) it’s a different palette now. It rocks harder; the band is more streamlined. We have our own identity now.” That said, the band members — all singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists — were tightly connected even before Cimarron 615 came into being.
Their resumes include a who’s-who of credits with the likes of John Fogerty, Hank Williams Jr., Vince Gill, Dickie Betts, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Burrito Deluxe, Great Plains, Palomino Road, and more between them. While always circling each other’s orbits, the team finally came together via the famed country-rock band Poco; Sundrud and Lonow were its longtime rhythm section until the band ceased when co-founder Rusty Young died in 2021. Webb played in the band for eight years, while Lonow and his longtime friend Guilbeau wrote Poco’s 1989 Top 20 single, “Call It Love.”
After Young’s death, Blue Élan Records Co-Founder Kirk Pasich organized a tribute concert and album, and brought Sundrud, Webb, and Lonow together in Los Angeles as part of a house band for the project – and heard the potential for more.
As Cimarron 615 rides out, the band’s four members are clear about two things. First, is that this musical partnership is a going concern with more to come. “When Kirk offered us the record deal it was like, ‘Do what you want,’” Sundrud says. “That really excited all of us, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no target to shoot for, except cool music and fun.”
And, secondly, the four can’t wait to get out and play these songs live. “When we’re live we allow ourselves to open up and expand or modify our solos from what’s on the record, or find a different part, whatever feels right that night,” Lonow says. “We keep our ears open. We listen to each other. We like to organically let stuff happen, and we’ve been doing this long enough to know that’s usually when the best stuff happens.”
Upcoming live shows by Cimarron 615:
11/05 – The Dakota – Minneapolis, MN
11/14 – Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO
11/15 – Wildey Theatre – Edwardsville, IL
More dates to be announced soon.
