RustRiders – “Stand Up”

[NoHo Arts District, CA]  – The Los Angeles country-rock band transforms a garage writing session and Ryan Curtis’ memories of Army service into a personal song about youth, camaraderie, patriotism and the years that stay with you. 

From Army Cadences to “Stand Up

“Stand Up” started in a garage. 

Before RustRiders had played a show, recorded an EP or hit the road, Ryan Curtis was sitting with guitarist Jon “Lovebone” Gus and songwriter and former bassist Nick Gomez, trading stories and pieces of military cadences Curtis remembered from his years in the Army. They started moving the words around. Changing rhythms. Turning pieces of old training cadences into verses. Then a chorus showed up. A few hours later, they had the beginnings of “Stand Up.” 

For Curtis, an Army veteran who joined at 19 years old, the song became something much more personal than the writing session that started it. Inspired in part by We Were Soldiers Once… and Young by Hal Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, “Stand Up” looks back at the young men and women who enter military service believing they are already grown, only to realize years later just how young they really were. 

Curtis joined the Army before 9/11. The attacks changed the course of what his service would become, and deployment followed. More than two decades later, “Stand Up” is his chance to look back at the young soldier he was then: patriotic, energized, scared, proud, surrounded by friends and certain he could take on whatever came next. 

“When you’re 18 or 19, you think you’re an adult. You think you have everything figured out,” Curtis says. “Looking back now, we were kids. We were soldiers, but we were so young. ‘Stand Up’ is me looking back at that kid with a lot of pride, a lot of gratitude and probably a little disbelief. It’s for the people I served with and for anybody who still carries those years with them.” 

The Memories Behind “Stand Up”

There is nostalgia in the song, but “Stand Up” is not intended as a slogan or a traditional patriotic anthem. It is about memory. Friendship. Youth. The intensity of serving alongside people who become family, and the strange experience of looking back years later at a version of yourself who feels both completely familiar and impossibly far away. 

The Los Angeles country-rock band transforms a garage writing session and Ryan Curtis’ memories of Army service into a personal song about youth, camaraderie, patriotism and the years that stay with you. 

The Story Behind the “Stand Up” Music Video

The music video carries a piece of Curtis’ own history. Before RustRiders, Curtis spent years as a writer and director, and he won an Emmy for writing, directing and producing “Face Your Dragon,” made with the VA and the Department of War. Footage from that Emmy Award-winning work appears in the “Stand Up” music video, bringing his film career and his music together in a single piece. 

For Curtis, that connection is the point. He wants “Stand Up” to show that veterans are one of the most creative communities in the country, in music, film and art, and to bring veterans and civilians together around that. It runs through the whole band: Gus and singer Victoria Renee both come from military families, and both their fathers and grandfathers served. 

There is another piece of RustRiders history wrapped into the song. Shortly after Curtis, Gus and Gomez finished that first writing session, Victoria Renee arrived at the garage. It was one of the first times the musicians at the center of what would eventually become RustRiders were together. Something clicked. What had started with Curtis writing country songs for a screenplay began turning into something none of them had originally planned: a band. 

RustRiders ultimately evolved around Curtis, Renee and Gus, whose voices, songwriting and chemistry form the core of the band today. Their sound blends California country, classic rock and three-part harmonies with songs built around storytelling, second chances and lived experience. 

RustRiders: From Memphis to Veterans Day

The band’s debut EP, “Iron, Blood & Rust,” was recorded at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis with producers Halley Phillips and Marie Lewey. RustRiders’ first single, “High Life,” has since picked up radio play on more than 50 stations around the country, helping introduce the independent Los Angeles band to audiences well beyond Southern California. The band recently completed its first mini-tour, performing in Florida, appearing during the Military Influencer Conference in Tampa, and finishing with a hometown performance at the Starlight Cabaret in Los Angeles. 

Now the focus turns to “Stand Up.” The single is available now, leading into Veterans Day on November 11, with RustRiders planning interviews, performances and veteran-community appearances surrounding the release. 

For Curtis, the hope is simple. 

“I hope another veteran hears it and gets transported for three or four minutes,” he says. “Maybe they remember the people they served with. Maybe they remember who they were back then. Maybe somebody who never served hears it and understands that world a little differently. That would mean a lot to me.” 

About RustRiders 

RustRiders is a Los Angeles-based California country-rock band built around Ryan Curtis, Victoria Renee and Jon “Lovebone” Gus. Blending country storytelling, classic-rock influences and three-part vocal harmonies, the band grew out of a collection of songs Curtis originally began writing for a screenplay. Those songs eventually turned into backyard writing sessions, live performances and the debut EP “Iron, Blood & Rust,” recorded at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis.

Curtis is a U.S. Army veteran and Emmy-winning filmmaker. Renee brings a soulful, powerful vocal presence to the group, while Gus serves as lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Former bassist Nick Gomez remains a songwriter and collaborator on several RustRiders songs. 

Completely independent and self-funded, RustRiders is building its audience through original music, touring, radio and live performance. 

“Stand Up” is available now. 

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5X4XsCLtjrK8YJhTMnbmBA 

Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/stand-up-single/6806904551 Music video: https://youtu.be/_nmdJrjYxOQ 

Website:

www.therustriders.com 

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/rustridersband/ 

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8cNQ86Zy6QGgk8YJ2BHWKg