You’d be hard-pressed to find a band with a more impressive collective resume than Cimarron 615. The quartet — just releasing its second, self-titled album — is a hall of fame-caliber assemblage, with credits that look like a who’s who of Americana, country and rock history. “We’ve all been around a long time and done a lot of work — and a lot of it together,” notes drummer Rick Lonow. “There’s history here.”
Where the four musicians intersect is via the famed country-rock band Poco. Lonow and Jack Sundrud were its longtime rhythm section until the band ceased when co-founder Rusty Young died in 2021. Michael Webb played in the band for eight years, while Ronnie Guilbeau co-wrote Poco’s 1989 Top 20 single “Call It Love” with Lonow. Webb and Sundrud co-produced Poco’s All Fired Up album in 2013, and Lonow, Webb and Sundrud played on Young’s 2017 solo album, Waitin’ For the Sun.
Then there are the individual credits, which include many path-crossings with each other over the years. Lonow’s discography includes albums for Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, Nanci Griffith, “Cowboy” Jack Clement, Ryan Bingham and many more, has toured with Poco, the Bellamy Brothers, and was part of the all-star Burrito Deluxe. Webb played on iconic albums by Chris Stapleton, John Prine, Mark Germino, Larkin Poe and others, as well as hitting the road with Poco, John Fogerty and Hank Williams, Jr.; he was also part of the all-star Brooklyn Cowboys. Sundrud played with Poco, Dickie Betts, Vince Gill, and Nicolette Larson, and formed the group Great Plains. And Guilbeau — who, like Sundrud, worked in the California country-rock scene before moving to Nashville — was part of the bands Palomino Road and GYG.
Cimarron 615 came to be after Young’s death, when Blue Elan Records chief 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 several projects – and heard the potential for more. Guilbeau rounded out the line-up in 2023.
