Fast Ryde is an American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 duo composed of singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

s James Harrison and Jody Stevens, both of whom sing and play guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

. The duo was signed to Republic Records

Republic Records

Republic Records was a record label and subsidiary of Universal Motown Republic Group. They originally went by the name Cheese Factory Records...

 Nashville and has released three singles: "That Thang," "Make It Rain," and "Top Down," That Thang reached #38 on the U.S. Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 charts.

History

Fast Ryde was founded in 2008 by Jody Stevens and James Harrison, natives of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, respectively. Jody Stevens is the son of songwriter Jeff Stevens

Jeff Stevens (singer)

Jeffery David "Jeff" Stevens is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer. He recorded two albums on Atlantic America Records with his brother Warren Stevens and cousin Terry Dotson as Jeff Stevens and the Bullets, and later as a solo artist on the same label...

, who has written hits for George Strait

George Strait

George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

 and Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw

Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...

 and produces

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 for Luke Bryan

Luke Bryan

Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan is an American country singer who debuted in 2007 with the single "All My Friends Say", a Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His debut album, I'll Stay Me, was released on Capitol Records in 2007. This album also produced chart singles in "We Rode in...

. Both Stevens and Harrison decided to work as songwriters in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, and chose to form a duo. In 2009, Fast Ryde signed to Republic Records

Republic Records

Republic Records was a record label and subsidiary of Universal Motown Republic Group. They originally went by the name Cheese Factory Records...

' newly-established Nashville division, through the assistance of Scott Borchetta.

Fast Ryde's first single release was "That Thang," which the duo wrote after Stevens suggested that the two write a "booty

Buttocks

The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...

 song." This song was met with mixed reviews. Juli Thanki of The 9513 gave the single a thumbs-down rating, criticizing the song for its repeated use of sung syllables and its similarity in theme to Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins

Tracy Darrell "Trace" Adkins is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1996 with the album Dreamin' Out Loud, released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since then, Adkins has released seven more studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations...

' "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk

Honky Tonk Badonkadonk

"Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" is a single, released in late 2005 by country music artist Trace Adkins. It was the last single from his album, Songs About Me. The song was a crossover hit for Adkins, peaking at #2 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and reaching the Top 40 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot...

." Alison Bonaguro, who reviewed the song in the blog for television network CMT

CMT

- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...

 said that it was a "a nice little catchy rocker." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock also compared it to "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," but also called the song a "silly little piece of ear candy." The song peaked at #38 on the U.S. Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 charts in mid-2009.

The duo released "Make It Rain" in October 2009. Robert K. Oermann of Music Row Magazine said that the song was "quite listenable and easy-smooth," and Peacock called it "just what Fast Ryde needs to get their foot in the door." It received a thumbs-down from The 9513's Jim Malec, who considered its lyrics "amateurish" and derivative of Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean

Jason Aldine Williams is an American country music singer, known professionally as Jason Aldean. Since 2005, Aldean has recorded for Broken Bow Records, an independent record label for which he has released four albums and twelve singles...

's "Amarillo Sky

Amarillo Sky (song)

"Amarillo Sky" is the title of a country music song written by Big Kenny and John Rich , along with Rodney Clawson and Bart Pursley. It was originally recorded by the band McBride & the Ride and released as a single in 2002 from their album Amarillo Sky...

." "Top Down" was released as the duo's third single. It was also made into a music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

, directed by Chris Hicky. After failing to chart with their second and third singles, they were released from Republic Nashville and their debut album was not released.

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
2009	"That Thang"	38	Non-album songs
	"Make It Rain"	—
2010	"Top Down"	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2010	"Top Down"	Chris Hicky Chris Hicky Chris Hicky is a Grammy nominated music video director from Forrest City, Arkansas, best known for directing many of Keith Urban's videos. Hicky has also directed videos for many other artists in the country music genre, including Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler, Deana Carter, Carrie Underwood, Lady...