Out now: 'NYC Made,' the new album by ex-Joan Jett & the Blackhearts guitarist Ricky Byrd

Guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer Ricky Byrd, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in 2015, just dropped his fourth album NYC Made through Stevie Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records. 

A Bronx native raised in Queens and a lifelong Yankees fan, Byrd pays homage to the soundtrack of his youth with NYC Made.

Reflecting on his influences, Byrd told Guitar Player, “I grew up on everything from The Raspberries to The Who to The Stones to The Yardbirds to Sam Cooke. Mix all that together, and I guess you get Ricky Byrd. I wear my influences on my sleeve. I write what I know. I just make music to make people happy... and to make me happy.”

Among the studio contributors: keyboardist/accordionist Jeff Kazee (Asbury Jukes), drummers Steve Holley (Wings), Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors), and Thommy Price (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts), as well as Uptown Horns members Arno Hecht and Larry Etkin. The Ba Ba Blacksheep Singers—Stevie Van Zandt, Willie Nile, Jeff Kazee, and Marc Ribler—lend backing vocals to two tunes.

Additionally, Van Zandt co-produced Transistor Radio Childhood, Stay Grateful, and Sweet Byrd of Youte. He also plays mandolin on Anna Lee, a doo-wop-inspired track co-written with Southside Johnny Lyon, which serves as the album’s lead focus track. Credited as "Consigliere" on the album, Van Zandt’s involvement adds another layer of depth to NYC Made.

NYC Made follows Byrd’s previous albums, Clean Getaway (2015) and Sobering Times (2021), both of which reflected his journey in sobriety—now marking 30+ years—and his work leading recovery music groups at treatment centers across the country.

With nearly five decades in rock ‘n’ roll, Byrd replaced Eric Ambel in Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in 1981, playing guitar and singing on the multi-platinum I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll and six subsequent albums before departing in 1991.

Over the years, Byrd has signed with Sony Music Publishing and recorded, toured, or performed alongside legends such as Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Alice Cooper, Mavis Staples, Darlene Love, Smokey Robinson, The Beach Boys, Jimmy Page, Steve Miller, Ronnie Spector, Graham Nash, Sam Moore, Gary Clark Jr., Peter Wolf, and Stevie Wonder.

“I still get the same thrill when I hear the DJ play one of my records on the car radio,” Byrd shares. “Do you need any more than that? As long as there are young, rebellious kids banging away on guitar, bass, and drums in their garage, rock ‘n’ roll will survive in one form or another. And I'm still doing it.”