Ricky Byrd, former guitarist for Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and now a solo artist, recently took a nostalgic trip down memory lane, sharing with us the albums that shaped his life and musical journey. Seated in his office in the New York City suburbs, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling shelves of CDs, Byrd admits the challenge of narrowing it down to just ten albums.
“It’s very hard to narrow it down,” Byrd says via Zoom, his voice light with humor. “There’s a million of ’em that I love.” Despite the overwhelming number of influential albums in his collection, he selected a group that has had a lasting impact on him. “I based this on stuff I still listen to, but there are tons more I could put on here,” he adds.
As Byrd reflects on the past, it’s an ideal time for him to share insights into his latest album, NYC Made. Released under Little Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label, the album marks Byrd’s first collaboration with the label. Van Zandt himself plays mandolin on the track “Anna Lee” and contributes to the “Ba ba black sheep” backing vocals. The 12-track album, produced by Byrd and longtime collaborator Bob Stander, explores themes of nostalgia and rock and roll memories. With songs like “Transistor Radio Childhood” referencing the New York City Top 40 of Byrd’s youth and “RnR’s Demise (Has Been Greatly Exaggerated)” celebrating the best of times, the album resonates with the sound of Byrd’s past while looking toward the future.
One of the standout tracks, “Rhapsody in Blues (One for Jeff),” is Byrd’s tribute to the late Jeff Beck. The song touches on the blues, rock, and fusion aspects of Beck’s groundbreaking career, highlighting Byrd’s admiration for the guitar legend.
“Each song has a different story,” Byrd shares. “As you get older, man, you start looking back a little bit. I love to put in stuff that might remind you of when you were a kid. That’s how I wrote stuff.”
Byrd, who has been sober for 38 years, continues to be an active member of the recovery community. However, after releasing two recovery-focused albums—Clean Getaway in 2015 and Sobering Times in 2021—Byrd wanted to shift his focus with NYC Made. “The last two albums were recovery-based. Those were tunes I would play when I do recovery groups around the country in treatment facilities,” he explains. “This time I said, ‘Okay, lemme hold off on that and write about different stuff.’”
Among the diverse tracks on the album, “Glamdemic Blues” was inspired by the pandemic lockdowns, while “Alien” was written after Byrd watched The Day the Earth Stood Still on TCM and had a vivid dream involving aliens and Steven Van Zandt.
Laughing at the memory, Byrd adds, “That’s different, right? My thing is always I want to make people smile, especially in these times. I’m a byproduct of a lot of things, and my influences are always on my sleeve. I think you can hear that.”
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