Riders in the Sky to bring Western wit, tunes to Lied

Courtesy photo

Riders in the Sky will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 24 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Longtime comedy band Riders in the Sky will bring their wacky humor and Western wit to the Lied Center’s main stage at 7:30 p.m. March 24.

Tickets are on sale here, by phone at 402-472-4747 or at the Lied Center box office, 301 N. 12th St. Students can purchase tickets at a 50 percent discount with a valid NCard.

The quartet – consisting of Ranger Doug (Douglas B. Green), Too Slim (Fred LaBour), Woody Paul (Paul Chrisman) and Joey (Joey Miskulin) – will salute Western movie, music and TV star Roy Rogers with such classics as “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” and “Happy Trails.”

Over a 40-year career, the group has made more than 6,100 concert appearances in all 50 states and 10 countries, performing everywhere from county fairs to Carnegie Hall. The four have been guests on numerous TV specials, documentaries and variety shows. Their animated likenesses have also shared the screen with Daffy Duck on the Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel’s Stanley.

Riders in the Sky has earned two Grammy Awards, for their contributions to the “Toy Story 2” and “Monsters Inc.” soundtracks. The band also wrote the score for Pixar’s Oscar-winning short film “For the Birds.”

In 1982, Riders in the Sky became the first exclusively Western band to join the Grand Ole Opry. In 1988, the band recorded comedy skits for the album “Riders Radio Theatre” and launched the long-running international weekly radio show of the same name on public radio. And keeping pace with the times, the “Ranger Doug’s Classic Cowboy Corral” debuted on XM Satellite Radio in 2006.

The Lied Center performance is sponsored by the Elizabeth Rubendall Foundation.