For 30 years, Bladen has been writing music and playing his songs for fans, stacking show after rock and roll show. With nine albums of original music (four studio and five live releases), he has been traveling the Midwest, a song-on-the-road warrior. Rusty has played more than 5,000 shows and was recently inducted as an inaugural member of the Madison Music Hall of Fame. Rusty’s every-night-is-a-great-night live show and the pile of encyclopedic rock and roll and country history turn a performance into a party. That’s his history, full of shows, road miles, and a catalog of rock and roll albums.
And now he’s releasing his latest EP on River Road Records.
Rusty’s new release, a four-song EP, produced by Dane Clark, is Rusty’s first studio album in 11 years. The songs will be released as singles on all streaming platforms, beginning with “Dark Days” on July 3, 2025. The other songs include “Float”, “Meth and Moonshine”, and “Radio Radio”. Clark, the longtime drummer in the John Mellencamp band, plays on all four tracks. In addition, Jackson Bladen plays keyboards and sings on the record.
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Rusty Bladen
Lead Vocals, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitars
Jackson Bladen
Piano, Hammond Organ, Background Vocals
Erik Scull
Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Background Vocals
Sandy Williams
Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Dane Clark
Drums and percussion
Randy Melson
Bass Guitar
Produced and mixed by Dane Clark
Recorded at Thundersound Studio
Mastered by Alan Johnson at Static Shack
AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST. A NEW EP
Rusty wrote and recorded his debut solo album, Are You Happy Now?, in 1993 and embarked on a solo career that would see him hitting the road throughout Indiana and Kentucky. He followed the debut with 1998’s full-length album Everything for Everybody. The Ride That River EP was released in 2006, with Mellencamp drummer Dane Clark behind the kit for three songs, including on the title cut, a song featured in the 2005 film “Madison”. Homegrown Treasures, an acoustic album of new songs recorded live, was released in 2010. One of his live albums, the full-band One Live Night, is a 2011 career-spanning overview of Rusty Bladen’s homegrown rock and roll recorded at the historic Scott Theater in Scottsburg, Indiana. His most recent studio album, For The Better, a rock and roll record, was recorded in 2014 with producer/guitarist Thom Daugherty.
INDIANA HOMEGROWN ROCK AND ROLL
