Check out our chat with Richard James & The Special Riders featuring intriguing questions from Brass Bed, The Gunslingers, and The Memphis Dawls.

Richard James and Anne Schorr began playing together in 1995 in New York in their band, Broken Chains. They moved to Nashville in 1997, where they released their first single, “Girl Song/Organic Tangerine”, on Misprint Records. Richard later released a 7-inch single, “Jeff Gunn,” on Wrecked ‘Em Wreckords, recorded for the first time as Richard James and The Special Riders, followed by the full-length CD, “Raw Roc Rol,” while Anne worked on her solo project, The Firecats.

Anne joined forces with the Special Riders in 2007 for the next CD, “Music For People Who Been Wrong(ed),” which was produced by Nashville’s Roger Alan Nichols (Paramore) and features guest contributions on guitar by Reeves Gabriels (Tin Machine, David Bowie) and on harmonica by Mark Holder (Black Diamond Heavies).

Their 2009 release, “Haints In My Past,” was recorded in Memphis at High/Low Recording, the Makeshift studio used in MTV’s $5 Cover. For this project, Richard enlists Memphis musicians Tim Regan on keyboards (Snowglobe, Antenna Shoes, Oh No Oh My) and brothers Toby and Jake Vest (Bulletproof Vest), as well as drummer Marcus Battle (Chasing Squirrels, Ten Acre Gunroom).

Richard’s next record, “The Hi, The Lo, The Nightlife,” will be out early 2011.