Ranchhands: Not sure where their horses went.

Credited as “the first American country music band to perform in Albania and Bosnia,” the Ranchhands have made a point to be busy pickin’ and fiddlin’ in places far from their Nashville hometown. These boys are Chris Tedesco and Mickey Kennedy, specializing in country rock of arena-filling proportions while keeping true to the roots of classic country and a modern Nashville production style (Tedesco was nominated both in 2004 and 2005 International Musician of the Year by the French Association of Country Music). Pretty cool, then, that The Ranchhands are kicking off a world tour from The Red Parrot (1700 S. Hastings Way, formerly Woo’s Pagoda) right here in Eau Claire. That’s 15 days in the US and another 15 in Switzerland, France, Italy, Bulgaria, among others. Across the continent they’ll be playing with prominent country songwriters Brent Mason and Dale Watson and playing festivals with up to 10,000 attending. No problem. It’s only their eleventh European tour. And if that wasn’t country rock star enough, Big in Europe, a documentary about their 2008 European tour is deep in post production.

    The Ranchhands • May 20 • Red Parrot, 1700 S Hastings Way, Eau Claire • 9pm • 832-6431