The River Rats have been rocking together since 1992, bringing the hits of the 1960s and ’70s to audiences across the Highland Lakes.
And those fans awarded the Kingsland-based act with a 2024 Locals Love Us nod for Favorite Band. The contest is voted on by The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners.
“Thank you for loving rock ‘n’ roll,” said member Steve Gilder after learning The River Rats were a local fave for the second year in a row. “Let’s keep it going.”
The band’s current lineup is Gilder on guitar, Steve Miller on keyboards, and Pat Moran on drums. All three pitch in on vocals.
“People don’t expect decent musicians out here (in the Highland Lakes), but when we have somebody new come see us, we hear, ‘Wow!’ a lot,” Miller said. “We’re not trying to pat ourselves on the back, but it happens, and it is really fun and fulfilling to have that experience.”
The band sticks to the hits of classic rock icons like Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Cream. Shows are big, bold, and fun, in this reporter’s experience.
“We have a saying, ‘If we aren’t having fun, we’re walking,’” Gilder joked. “We just like having a good time, laughing and joking with the audience, and playing good rock ‘n’ roll.”
Moran is the junior member of The River Rats, having joined in 1994, and the only native Texan. Miller was born in Oklahoma, but made his way to the Lone Star State when he was 10 years old. Gilder is from farther east, Bromsgrove, a small town in Worcestershire, England, about 4,000 miles away.
The band is bonded by a shared love and appreciation for classic rock, but also friendship. The River Rats have been playing together for nearly 32 years, and they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.