Tash Neal, Nicole Atkins and the Holy Model Rounders’ Peter Stampfel to Join John Kay of Steppenwolf and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds at Easy Rider Live

Easy Rider Live, which is set to debut at Radio City Music Hall on the world’s largest indoor flying LED screen on Friday, September 20th, has added some additional celebrated musicians to perform the live soundtrack. The innovative cinematic experience will take place on Friday, September 20th, with T Bone Burnett serving as musical director alongside numerous musicians who originally contributed to the film, including John Kay of Steppenwolf and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. They will be joined by another alum, Peter Stampfel of the Holy Model Rounders, whose version of “If You Want To Be A Bird” is featured during one of the movie’s signature sequences, when Wyatt (Peter Fonda), Billy (Dennis Hopper) and George (Jack Nicholson) experience a moment of freedom on the road.

Some contemporary artists have also been added to the event, which will serve as a tribute to Fonda who set the project in motion and had been slated to provide the opening remarks until his untimely passing last month. Incendiary guitarist Tash Neal (The London Souls) will serve as a one-man house band. The innovative musician will evoke the sounds of numerous rock icons who appear in the film, along with fellow Easy Rider enthusiast Nicole Atkins who will contribute her soulful voice and sense of style to the affair.

“Easy Rider resonates across generations, so we’re thrilled to add Tash Neal and Nicole Atkins to the mix,” says Easy Rider Live producer Peter Shapiro, who is producing alongside longtime Live Nation promoter Jason Miller. “It’s also a real honor to welcome another acclaimed original artist in Peter Stampfel.”

Easy Rider Live is an unprecedented event, combining an unparalleled cinematic experience with a live rock band for this first-of-its-kind performance at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie’s July 14, 1969 theatrical release. 

Written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, directed by Hopper and produced by Fonda, Easy Rider is an American independent road drama that “captured the national imagination” and became the “touchstone for a generation.” The film follows characters Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper) as they travel the South and Southwest after successfully completing a drug deal. The film’s success helped usher in the New Hollywood era of filmmaking in the early 1970s. Easy Rider explores societal issues of the 1960s such as communal living, the hippie movement, and drug use. Easy Rider is listed as one of A.F.I’s 100 greatest films, and in 1998 was added to the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

“What a ride it’s been! From a funky motel room in Toronto, in ‘67 to a roar on the shore at Cannes, in May 1969. A wild ride up the stairs at the Palais into the history books of cinema. Looking for America. Would we find it today? I think not. Did we really “blow it?” You bet. 50 years later, are we blowing it now? You bet. Enjoy the new print. Sing along with the songs. Laugh with the humor! Remember the spirit! Find the love.”

— Peter Fonda, 2019

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