Stealin Horses, Arista Records, 1988 Cover: Arthur Tress

Stealin Horses track list:

1. Turnaround - Heartwood/Winding
2. Where all the Rivers Run - Heartwood
3. Rain - Heartwood/Winding
4. Harriet Tubman - Heartwood
5. Walk Away - Heartwood/Winding
6. The Well - Heartwood
7. Gotta Get A Letter - Heartwood
8. Dyin' By The Gun - Heartwood
9. Tangled - Terry/Heartwood
10. Ballad of the Pralltown Cafe - Heartwood/Gillespie

In 1985 I hooked up with a group in Lexington, Kentucky called Radio Cafe (Kiya Heartood, Sam Gillespie, Thom Thompson). Within months we became Stealin Horses, made a 10 song tape in Nashville, then both guys bailed. Connections made during those sessions lead to a production deal then a major label deal in less than a year.

Our self-titled album was released in 1988 on Arista Records (Whitney Houston, The Church, Alecia Keys). I spent the next 7 years touring the U.S. and Canada, appearing on MTV Farm Aid IV and toured with the likes of The Smithereens Level 42 Wang Chung plus a slew of one-night-stand opening gigs.

Though selling 100,000 albums should be impressive, and it was back then, it didn't begin to recoup the money Arista had spent. We actually recorded the record twice, first in Nashville then in LA, but only the second sessions were ever released. And, so, they dropped us the week before Christmas; not uncommon since write-offs need to be secured before January 1 and Houston alone had made the company a reported 47 million that year.

Recently added to YouTube is the only Stealin Horses video made courtesy of Arista. It accompanied the first single Turnaround and garnered medium rotation for a few months on MTV and VH1. Click the YouTube pic for a peek of the video (and thanks to whoever added it!).



People always ask where it was filmed. It was made in the same location as the album's cover; Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park just north of LA.

Mandy Meyer, Kiya Heartwood, Kopana Terry, Jon Durno

Stealin Horses, produced by Greg Ladanyi (Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, Don Henley), is a boon for any LA studio musician fan featuring players like Steve Lukather (Toto) Neil Young ('nuff said) Mike Pocaro (Toto) Leland Sklar (everybody on the planet) Danny Kortchmar (James Taylor, Carole King) Russ Kunkle (Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon) Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt) Jai Winding (Madonna, The Eagles) Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakum) Kevin Dukes (Billy Joel, Don Henley) Mandy Meyer (Asia, Krokus) Bob Glaub (Warren Zevon, CSN) J.R. Robinson (Steve Winwood) (Dave Wakeling [The English Beat, General Public] and David Lindley [everybody and their brother] get honorable mentions since their tracks were cut from the final mix) and that's just the second recording!

Though the first sessions were never released, they featured roughly the same songs produced by people in Nashville (who shall forever remain nameless as far as I'm concerned). Yet, somehow despite their ineptitude, they managed to get great players to the sessions like Richard Lloyd (Television) Anton Fig (Late Night with David Letterman) Tom Grey (The Brains) Richard Bennett (he's played with everybody) Jimmy Ripp (Tom Verlaine) Warner Hodges (Jason and the Scorchers) Mark O'Connor (Master musician) Byron House (Emmylou Harris, Jerry Douglas) Tommy Wells Keith Christopher (the Brains) Bob Babbitt (Marvin Gaye, Alice Cooper) Larry Chaney (Edwin McCain) Carl Marsh (Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker) Kenny Greenberg (Brooks and Dunn, Wynonna) Tommy Dorsey (Josh Rouse, Tim McGraw) Bobby Jones and the Bobby Jones Singers Mike Joyce (John Hiatt, Roy Orbison) and Mike Lawler (Allman Brothers, James Brown). Whew - that's a lot of people!

Stealin Horses - Mesas and Mandolins, Waldoxy Records, 1991 Cover: Sam McKinney

Mesas and Mandolins track list:

1. This House - Heartwood/Dukes
2. If You Want to be Lovers - Heartwood
3. It's Not Magic - Heartwood/Dukes
4. Distillery Hill - Heartwood/Dukes
5. Beginner's Mind - Heartwood
6. 1968 (A Good Day for Robbin' Trains) - Heartwood
7. Cross J 4th of July - Heartwood/Dukes
8. Broadform Deed - Heartwood (based on trad. tune "Shady Grove")
9. About You - Heartwood
10. Blue Moon of Kentucky - Monroe

After filing bankruptcy at the ripe old age of 25, we signed with an indie label out of Jackson, Mississippi called Waldoxy Records, a division of Malaco Records (think K-tel or Ronco...there I go again, showing my age). To clear up any confusion, "the band" since 1986 when Gillespie and Thompson split, was only myself and Kiya though a ton of wonderful players came and went over the years like Gregg Fulkerson (Blue Tears, Attraction 65), Jon Durno (Roman Holiday, Samantha Fox) Tony Nagy (Mark Selby, Trioshift) Brian Bonhomme (Roman Holiday) Kelly Richey and Kevin Keith (R.I.P. 2007). It wasn't until Mesas and Mandolins that there were other legitimate "members" who shared in the spoils and tragedies, the latter being most prevelent I'm afraid.

We left Nashville for Tahlequah, Oklahoma thanks to our good friend Angie Bliss who later founded Bliss McCain. After more touring, more "member" changes, more drama, we finally, and for the last time, reformed with Okie native Steve Kirkpatrick on bass, Kevin Clark on lead guitar, and multi-instrumentalist Tim Gilliam, the latter two hailing from our native Kentucky. I would be remiss if I didn't mention our 6th and silent member Jimi "Gator" McDuffy out of South Carolina. Jimi ran our sound, schlepped our gear, made incredible artwork, was wonderfully kind to me during some of my darkest hours, and was a general, all-around great person. These guys became the only full-fledged members of Stealin Horses since 1986.

The six of us managed to stay together a year or two but the strain of constant touring, no money, bad food, unscrupulous bar owners, shady business deals, inner-group squabbling (happens to every band) and general unhappiness drove me out first. The band caved soon after. And the rest, as they say, is history.