8 hours ago
Farmer. Father. Musician. Painter. Dart’s music is rooted in the life he lives — love, loss, heartbreak, and hard work beneath the Rocky Mountains.
Born in Colorado and raised in rural Arkansas, Ryan’s sound blends the grit of country and the soul of rhythm and blues. Think Dylan, Cash, Van Zandt, Waits, Petty — with a touch of Fats Domino and Bill Withers.
After years touring with acts like Rose Hill Drive, Dinosaur Jr., and Ryan Bingham, Dart settled north of Denver to raise his son and start Dart Farms. His 2022 album Edge of the Wild showed his growth as a songwriter — but personal heartbreak followed. Now, he’s back with If Love Don’t Break You (due May 1st) — a 14-song “Divorce Album” that dives deep into the emotional landscape and is his most honest work yet.
Featuring Texas fiddle legend Richard Bowden and an all-star lineup including Nate Barnes, Daniel Sproul, Bridget Law of Elephant Revival — this record balances sorrow with surprising joy. It’s raw, real, and fully human.
Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the standout tune “Wrangler’s & Rock n’ Roll,” an easygoing work of alt-country that finds Dart pining for simpler times when people were closer to the land and the animals they cared for. Soulful background singers, gorgeous harmonies, and the lonesome twang of pedal steel and a fiddle only accentuate these lyrics that feel like a metaphor for something deeper than horses and the frontier lifestyle. Ultimately, the tune is a proper showcase for Dart’s songwriting talent and his ability to present his lyrics with a rich soundtrack that feels perfect for getting reflective while nursing a beer at the bar.
Dart describes the process and inspiration behind the tune:
“I grew up watching old westerns, dreaming of riding like the heroes in The Man From Snowy River and Lonesome Dove. Then I got bucked off a horse near Yellowstone National Park at age 12 and broke my arm in three places. Didn’t quite play out like a Hollywood movie and I wasn’t as eager to jump on any old horse after that!
But between my grandma’s stories of traveling by covered wagon from South Dakota to Colorado during the Dust Bowl, going to rodeos in Arkansas as a kid, and watching Ryan Bingham compete in Fort Worth during the day and sell out Billy Bob’s that same night, I never lost my love for horses and the ranch life.
There’s something real and honest in that western lifestyle and I feel that demands respect for the people who keep it alive…getting out in the summer heat or a January blizzard to care for their animals, putting in the hours it takes to compete at a high level, and doing it all with grit and genuine kindness. Those bonds between a rider and their horse aren’t built overnight.
My friend Danno Simpson and I wrote ‘Wranglers and Rock & Roll’ one night out at my farm in Berthoud, and it’s become one of my favorites on the record. It’s part love story, part rodeo story, and a full-on throwback to my teenage years – a time when cowgirls in Wrangler jeans and a great rock & roll song felt like all you needed in the world.
The song leans into that nostalgia for a simpler time when horses were more a part of everyday life, but I didn’t want to romanticize it too much – those times took some tough skin too. There’s some rodeo terms in there like, ‘The Short Go,’ that not everybody will catch – but I hope the feeling lands for everyone regardless.”
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