Richmond Fontaine

Richmond Fontaine was a four-piece alt country band based in Portland, OR.

The band was formed in 1994 by guitarist / lead vocalist Willy Vlautin and bass player Dave Harding at the Portland Meadows horse race track. Known for Vlautin's incredibly rich and evocative lyrics, several of Richmond Fontaine's songs relate to the underbelly of Western America, horse racing specifically and gambling generally. This is largely an artifact of Vlautin's upbringing in Reno, Nevada, a place that is heavily referenced in his lyrics, along with Portland, the U.S. Western states. Vlautin is also an acclaimed novelist, having written six respected books including The Motel Life and Lean On Pete which were made into movies. As a fiction writer, he is often compared to Raymond Carver and Charles Bukowski while his lyrical style is inspired by the narrative style of Australian artist Paul Kelly. Musically, Richmond Fontaine have cited influences such as Gram Parsons, X (U.S. band), Green on Red, The Replacements and Dave Alvin and they are often regarded as part of the rock alt.country movement that includes bands such as Drive-By Truckers, Calexico, Uncle Tupelo, Jayhawks and others.

For heavy support of the high brow music press and radio in Europe, Richmond Fontaine have been more successful there than their native US, UNCUT Magazine labeled them the "Kings of Americana" and the band released over 12 albums. The band broke up in 2016 with the final line-up of Vlautin, Dan Eccles guitar, Sean Oldham drums and Freddy Trujillo on bass. Vlautin, Trujillo and Oldham went on to form The Delines whom are currently active and receiving even greater success.