About
The story of a musician, wildlife biologist, historian, and lifelong observer of the land.
About Randy Lee Riviere
Randy Lee Riviere grew up in Northern California, a country boy who learned to play guitar in the fourth grade. That instrument carried him through country, folk, blues, Southern rock, and hard-driving rock and roll—and into songwriting. Life took him in many directions, but the guitar and the songs were always there.
“There was always a jam, a band, and notebooks full of scratched-out songs,” Riviere recalls. Ideas landed on notepads and the backs of envelopes, sometimes getting lost along the way. It was all part of learning the craft. About 25 years ago, he began making records as Mad Buffalo, releasing four albums before recording under his own name. His latest album, New Blue Mexico, is his fifth solo project.
His work as a wildlife biologist became a powerful influence on his songwriting, deepening his connection to wildlife and the land it depends on. Years spent working and traveling across America also made him an avid student of its history. He reads, watches, and listens, looking for the stories behind the landscape and the people who call it home.
Those interests run throughout his music. Songs such as “Needles,” “Concrete Blues,” “Camp Disappointment,” and “Devil’s Blood” explore the effects of greed and development on the American landscape. Others turn toward working people, communities, and those pushed to the margins. His songs consider America’s contradictions through individual lives and experiences.
Riviere resists being assigned to a political camp. An “equal opportunity antagonist,” as he calls himself, he questions concentrated power, ideological divisions, and the impulse to define people by which side they’re on. He has worked with, befriended, and written about people of many backgrounds—and brings that experience to his music.
The American West remains at the heart of his work. It is where he grew up, studied, and spent much of his life as a biologist. Its landscapes, history, and changing communities continue to shape his songs.
Call it Western blues and roots, Americana, or simply American music. Across more than two decades of recording, Randy Lee Riviere has followed those stories wherever they lead. New Blue Mexico carries that journey forward.