The Tractors

A few years back, the musical spirits of Hank Williams and Chuck Berry, Elvis and Buck Owens, Bob Wills and James Brown converged in Steve Ripley's fertile mind at a legendary studio called The Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The tornado he conjured up was called The Tractors and, with a Grammy-nominated multiplatinum album that was the fastest-selling country group debut in history, stormed across America.

One of country music's most unlikely success stories, The Tractors weren't young and they weren't pretty but by mining Ripley's roots they helped fuel a musical revolution called Americana.

Since then, country has once again gone fallow, with fields of schmaltzy pop and masquerades in cowboy hats. Fortunately, The Tractors are back to reclaim the land, ready to harvest what they first sowed, with Fast Girl (Audium Records), released April, 2001, their fourth album and first since 1998.