LoCash Cowboys Pay Tribute to their Friend Ryan ‘Troop’ Jones
12 years ago Liv Carter 1
Heartbreaking and heartwarming. Inspiring, moving, sweet, funny and unforgettable. Last Sunday, February 26, 2012, the extended LoCash Cowboys family came together at the Wildhorse in Nashville, TN to pay tribute to the life and music of Ryan ‘Troop’ Jones with a show benefiting MusiCares.
One of the worst things a band can go through is to lose a member of the family. I cut another assignment short and flew down the highway from Memphis (sorry, officer!) to make sure I could be there to support my friends.
As the fans know, Troop was a massive Star Wars fan and the show was fittingly opened by Darth Vader himself. Chris and Preston kicked off with an absolutely driving rendition of ‘C.O.U.N.T.R.Y.’ and kept that energy going all night. They were joined throughout the evening by special guests Randy Houser, Bruce Brown, Mason Tyler and Jeffrey Steele. Troop’s guitar, fiddle, and equipment were displayed on stage where his spot used to be.
In between the songs, Chris and Preston shared their personal stories of life on the road with Troop. I honestly don’t know how they got through this evening the way they did. I was pretty much keeping it together until Steele started playing ‘What Hurts the Most’; he had barely sung four words and I had tears rolling down my face (if that’s unprofessional, I really don’t care). One of the most moving stories we heard was about one of Troop’s Star Wars shirts getting mixed up with Preston’s clothes on the bus. He found it when he got home but never had a chance to return it. The t-shirt has now been sown into one of Preston’s shirts. All I could think was that I had to go tell all my friends I love them, because you never know if you might ever get another chance to do so.
Everything about this night was impressive, the band, the families, and the fans. I already had a lot of respect for Chris and Preston, and that has only deepened after this beautiful tribute to their dear friend.
Farewell Troop, and thank you for sharing your great talent with us all!
Check out a few pictures from the night below. You can find the rest on our Flickr page.
Liv Carter
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
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