Riding up the Music Charts

“The Last Ride” may be their best yet

Finding fame in the music business is a tough road to take, but for Aaron Chesling and his band The Last Ride, that road may be shorter than most. From a chance meeting at a guitar store in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2009, Chesling and vocalist Tony Winkler founded the band, adding guitarist Tyler King soon after. Since then, their mission has been to write and perform Country music based on their common blue-collar experiences of growing up in the Midwest.

The band’s latest album, Boys Like Us, was released in May, and garnered rave reviews for the video single of the title track. For Chesling, King and Winkler, the lyrics of writing that album was easy and a direct reflection of their upbringing. “Tyler is from the Minnesota country, Both Tony and I grew up in Iowa, myself in Muscatine and him in Cedar Rapids. All of our families were about as blue-collar as it gets, so writing about those experiences was close to all of hearts. “Boys Like Us” was inspired by our upbringing in Iowa and Minnesota, and is about as Midwestern country-boy as it can be. It’s real, it’s who we are, and we are proud of that” said Chesling in a recent interview.

That fact was a crucial first step on the road to becoming a professional Country band. Based in the Twin Cities, their first hit single “We are the Twins Fans” gained regional radio airplay and the recognition of Toby Keith, who now regularly hosts The Last Ride band at his music venue “I Love This Bar” in Golden Valley, MN.  Since that discovery, the band has been touring the Midwest and continues to write new music for other well-known performers and multi-media. Later this fall, Nintendo will release “Country Dance” for the Wii game system, and it will include music performed by The Last Ride, as well as other notable CMT stars such as Blake Shelton and Brad Paisley. We were pretty flattered to be approached by them to have our music on the new Wii game, especially when you look at who else is on there. It brings our songs to a whole new audience, and we are pretty excited about what the future will bring” Chesling continued.

In the mean time, the trio has been in the production studio working on two more CMT videos to be released later this summer. In a recent interview, Chesling commented that the on-line music video forum was becoming the new “best” way to gain attention and airplay on a national scale. “Our goal is to write music…specifically we want to write the next hit song. It does not matter so much that we perform it, it could be Toby (Keith) or some other artist, that would be just as good. Until that day comes, we will continue to tour and open for great musicians like Jake McVey at Great River Days, or wherever the ride takes us” he added.

While the Twin Cities is home for now, Chesling has a special mission for the upcoming Great River Days concert in Muscatine, Iowa on July 28. “You have no idea how much this show means to our band…it is a real homecoming for us and a chance to play the music I  wrote about living in Muscatine and the people we grew up with. Tony grew up with Jake (McVey) in Cedar Rapids, and to have him there with us that evening is about as perfect as it comes. We will have two more releases ready by then, and we plan to debut them at that night’s concert for our hometown fans” Chesling concluded.
Given the album success of “Boys Like Us” and recognition on a national level, one would easily conclude that The Last Ride is far from over for these talented musicians.

Links and videography:
The Last Ride – Raise Your Glass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTZNu1lj6Is
The Last Ride – Boys Like Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdjO97nrjJ0&feature=related

Website  http://www.thelastrideband.com/

Concert and ticket information: www.GreatRiverDays.com

Great River Days presents The Last Ride  opening for Jake McVey on July 28, 2011 Riverfront Park – Muscatine Iowa. Showtime is 7PM. Adults $10, kids under 12 free w/ paid adult. For information, contact JJ Koehler @ 309-791-1209