Biography

As lead singer of the Legends of Rodeo, John Ralston found himself with no money and no contract after label problems plagued the release of his band's first album, A Thousand Friday Nights. The Florida native suddenly had no public outlet for his music, but a chance encounter with recording engineer Michael Seaman brought back the luck that Ralston had recently lost in the label split. The two hit it off immediately, and Seaman subsequently invited Ralston to spend some time at his home in Knoxville, TN. Accompanied by former bandmate and drummer Jeff Snow, Ralston traveled to Tennessee, and in the span of a week had recorded what would become his debut album, Needle Bed. Ralston released the album himself; shortly thereafter, he went to Chicago with the intention of overdubbing several tracks with Wilco's Jay Bennett, who had become a fan of Ralston's songwriting during the Legends of Rodeo days. Instead, Ralston ended up recording an entirely new album, There's Always an Ambulance Around the Bend. Although the album was not released, April 2006 saw the re-release of Needle Bed on Vagrant Records, who had signed Ralston to their roster the previous January. Ralston chose a more expansive approach for his next record, employing a backing band and layering upward of 100 individual tracks on each song. The resulting album, Sorry Vampire, was released in October 2007. ~ Andrew Leahey & Marisa Brown, Rovi