The Auburn-based Rhythm Riders recently performed with an idol.

The Johnny Cash/Pasty Cline tribute band shared the stage of the Phoenix Shrine Auditorium with Jordin Sparks, the 19-year-old pop/R&B artist who won the sixth season of American Idol, sold platinum with her self-titled debut album and hit high on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Jordin Sparks was an absolute sweetheart to work with,” band drummer EG Smith said. “She's very humble and down to earth, wonderful with her fans and very professional. Plus, her background is country music, so she did a fantastic job covering songs with the Rhythm Riders like ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’

“It was a pleasure meeting her and playing with her.”

The concert was a fundraiser for the Shriners Children's Hospital in Phoenix, a town Sparks calls home, and it was dedicated in memory of Toni Davenport, a long-time friend of Rhythm Riders lead vocalists Johnny and Dee Price, of Auburn.

Playing in Sparks’ aura makes sense, but the Rhythm Riders are no slouches when it comes to having a fine reputation of their own, with two CDs, sold-out performances and appearances on television.

WS Holland, Johnny Cash’s drummer of 37 years, is purported to have said, “There is no question, this is the real thing, not an imitation. Johnny Price doesn’t even have to try. He just is Johnny Cash.”

I can attest to that. Taking on the phone to Price, his low, gravely voice brings back some fabulous memories, like the unforgettable time I saw the big man in person on a rotating stage in San Carlos.

Phoenix concert

How did the concert in Phoenix go?

When Dee Price and the Rhythm Riders took the stage after several other artists, they apparently “wowed the audience” with their Patsy Cline tribute. Even Sparks couldn’t resist, joining them and singing the Cline classic, “Crazy,” to the huge delight of the crowd.

Sparks told the audience she had grown up singing Patsy Cline songs, and that she was one of Dee Price's biggest fans.



By then, the crowd was primed.

“As soon as the music started with that signature boom-chucka Luther Perkins guitar, they started to cheer,” Smith said. “Then they heard "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash, and the place erupted. There was a standing ovation (as always) at the end of a too-short set.”

“The Rhythm Riders are always asked, ‘When can you come back?,’” Johnny Price said. “When we hear that, we know we’ve done what we set out to do, give people a first-class experience.”

Not surprisingly, Phoenix may be on their schedule for next year.

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To contact Prospector Editor Pam Jung, e-mail pjung@theunion.com or call 477-4232. For more about the Rhythm Riders, visit www.theunion.com/blogs/prospector.

The Rhythm Riders in concert

The Rhythm Riders play March 28 at Marilyn's on K in Sacramento, May 3 at the 52nd Annual Elk Grove Western Festival, and tentatively on May 23 at a benefit concert for Placer High School in Auburn.

Visit their Web site at www.rhythmridersmusic.com or call the studio at (530) 878-0907. See a video of them performing with Jordin Sparks at www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUsAghLBp1g.