The River Road Collective first came together in 2016. At that time Joe Tullos (Big Sun) contacted Dave Malone (The Radiators) and Kevin Aucoin (Big Sun) about forming a project that would draw together musicians from St. John the Baptist Parish in south Louisiana. The three soon enlisted Parish resident Frank Girard (Exit 209) and they began recording music in Aucoin’s studio, drawing on Tullos and Malone’s existing songs and creating some new ones as well. Additional players included Tommy Malone (The Subdudes) and Michael “Mikey B3” Burkart (Raw Oyster Cult).

The album was nearly ready for release in the spring of 2020 but then COVID delayed the mixing process. That summer, Tullos was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and he passed away in November 2020. Girard died eleven months later and the record was set aside.

Finally in July 2023, Malone and Aucoin resumed work on mixing the 12 tracks recorded by the group with engineer/producer Jack Miele. The River Road Collective’s self-titled album has finally been completed and this musical summit of celebrated Louisiana players is now available via Big Sun Records.