Cimarron 615 is a hall of fame-caliber assemblage, with credits that look like a who's-who of Americana, country and rock history. "We've all been around a long time and done a lot of work -- and a lot of it together," notes drummer Rick Lonow. "There's history here." Where the four musicians intersect is via the famed country-rock band Poco. Lonow and Jack Sundrud were its longtime rhythm section until the band ceased when co-founder Rusty Young died in 2021. Michael Webb played in the band for eight years, while Ronnie Guilbeau co-wrote Poco's 1989 Top 20 single "Call It Love" with Lonow. Webb and Sundrud co-produced Poco’s All Fired Up album in 2013, and Lonow, Webb and Sundrud played on Young's 2017 solo album, Waitin' For the Sun. Cimarron 615 came to be after Young's death, when Blue Elan Records chief Kirk Pasich organized a tribute concert and album and brought Sundrud, Webb and Lonow together in Los Angeles as part of a house band for several projects - and heard the potential for more. Guilbeau rounded out the line-up in 2023.

"To me, personally, California country-rock is an actual genre. Rusty used to say it was rock musicians playing country instruments," says Lonow. "And the (vocal) harmonies are always a big part of it. That's the common thread with all of us -- it gives you country music, rock music and vocal harmonies all in one package. That's our DNA."

It's certainly an apt description of the 12 original  tracks on CIMARRON 615, an album that finds the quartet fully forged as a band. "After doing that (first album) it's a different palette now," Lonow explains. "I think it rocks a little harder. I think the band is streamlined. We have more of an identity now." Sundrud concurs that, "We've been working a lot, and I think it's really solidified as a band with the four of us. It really is a good fit."