[Cover photo credit to Brantley Gutierrez]
Singer/songwriter and bassist Karina Rykman has announced new single “Joyride,” the first and title track from her debut album, Joyride, arriving via AWAL on Friday, August 18, 2023. The new track features lead guitar from Joyride co-Producer Trey Anastasio and bridges an array of genres to build Rykman’s take on Psychedelic Indie Rock.
Rykman shares:
’Joyride’ is about being driven insane as you’re kept awake by music in your head all night – so much so that eventually, you give up and ask your partner to take you on a joyride instead of tossing and turning. This is doubly humorous because I’m an unlicensed born and raised Manhattanite, and as a result, must be driven everywhere!
Rykman played bass notably in her teens, and by the end of her senior year at NYU, she was invited to join pianist Marco Benevento’s band (as recommended by Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz), with whom she performed countless shows including dates with Vulfpeck, Dispatch, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, Guster, and many more.
Rykman soon formed her own band, accompanied by Adam November (guitar, loopers, effects) and Chris Corsico (drums).
Joyride was written and recorded with childhood friend, producer Gabe Monro, features Trey Anastasio as co-Producer and musician, contributing guitar on five of the album’s nine tracks.
The collaboration is the outcome of a happenstance encounter when both artists performed at 2021’s Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA. Anastasio offered Rykman the use of his Vermont studio The Barn along with the suggestion to work with mixer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Swans, Ramones).
Anastasio says:
When I first heard the early demos, the first thing I said was more Karina. Turn up the bass, sing more, and step out. What makes me most happy about the finished album now is that to my ears, it sounds like Karina unapologetically. It has her nature. It has her incredible joyous outlook that I know is real because I saw it in her when she was a kid.
Rykman adds:
You only get to make your first album once, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we created with this one. It’s a moment in time – the first of what I hope to be a lifetime of making records and touring behind them. I don’t care about bells and whistles; I’m just addicted to playing.
