Amy Rigby is back with The Old Guys (Southern Domestic), her first solo album since 2005’s Little Fugitive. A veteran of NYC bands Last Roundup in the ’80s and the Shams in the ’90s, Rigby recorded the 12-track The Old Guys with husband and musical partner Wreckless Eric in upstate New York, where the couple resides. Not only is Rigby currently on tour in support of her new LP, she’s also guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.
Rigby: I admit I’m becoming an upstate New York cliché. I’ve lived in the beautiful Hudson Valley (along the Hudson River, just at the foot of the Catskill Mountains) for more than half a decade now and have the Subaru, the hiking boots and the well-worn tale of that time I hung out with the Band to prove it. (OK, not true. What about Mercury Rev—do they count?). I’m also a yogurt snob and farmers’ market devotee and work in an independent bookstore that serves local beer and cider. It’s not the life I pictured for myself because such a life in a place like this didn’t exist a decade ago, but I love it. I also love supporting the small businesses that have sprung up in an area that is fairly rural. One of those is the Hudson Standard. They make shrub, a delicious fruit and vinegar-based concoction you can mix into cocktails, or add to soda in the summer, or hot water in the winter. The perfect tonic to calm myself down after being cut off by a massive pickup truck with a Trump bumper sticker. Nowhere is perfect.
