Stills Credits Stage Chops for Supergroup

Stephen Stills is already receiving great advance reviews -- along with some industry whispers of a possible Grammy nod -- for his new blues supergroup, the Rides, featuring guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and keyboardist Barry Goldberg. But the Crosby, Stills, & Nash co-founder revealed to us it nearly went in a different direction with another high profile -- but nameless -- second frontman.

Stills, who kicks off the first Rides dates tour later this month in New York City, says the project came to be because he's loving the way he's playing these days. He admitted that the new project took a few twists and turns before morphing into what became the Rides: "We started out wanting to do a blues album, and I asked (my manager) Elliot Roberts to just, y'know, start asking around. 'Cause I had done a year on the road with CSN and I'd been playing and playing and playing and playing and I thought my chops were pretty good. And there was a lot of interest from several different people, and the for one reason or another things didn't work out; one lost his voice, the decided he didn't just wanna play guitar, he wanted to sing, too. . ."

The Rides' debut album, Can't Get Enough, will be released on August 27th and features original material alongside covers of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World' and the Stooges' "Search And Destroy."

The Rides - featuring Stephen Stills -- tour dates (subject to change):
August 28, 29 - New York, NY - Iridium Jazz Club
September 1 - Atlantic City, NJ - Tropicana Casino & Resort
September 3 - Englewood, NJ - Bergen Performing Arts Center
September 5 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
September 7 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
September 8 - Westbury, NY - NYCB Theatre At Westbury
September 10 - Homestead, PA - Carnegie Library Music Hall
September 13 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
September 16 - Lexington, KY - Lexington Opera House
September 20 - Houston, TX - Arena Theatre
September 21 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater
September 24 - Riverside, CA - Fox Performing Arts Center
September 25 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
September 27 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort & Casino