The Tractors

The Tractors were an American country rock band composed of a loosely associated group of musicians headed by guitarist Steve Ripley. The original lineup consisted of Steve Ripley (lead vocals, guitar), Ron Getman (guitar, Dobro, mandolin, tenor vocals), Walt Richmond (keyboards, piano, bass vocals), Casey van Beek (bass guitar, baritone vocals), and Jamie Oldaker (drums). Under the band’s original lineup, they signed to Arista Nashville in 1994, releasing their self-titled debut album that year; the album only produced one Top 40 hit on the Billboard country charts.

Since their foundation, most of the band’s original members moved on to separate projects, although they often collaborated with frontman Ripley on The Tractors’ more recent recordings. Ripley was the only official member of the group throughout its tenure; he had stated that The Tractors was more of a "state of mind", and the band contained a largely undefined cast of unofficial contributors.