About

Crooked Rider is an original music project started by Michael Simpsonelli, built around cinematic instrumental compositions, studio recordings, and a live band.

After contributing some compositions to Network Entertainment's I Am Chris Farley documentary back in 2015, he was approached about creating music for a Western-themed documentary. He spent three days in the studio writing and recording a collection of original western-inspired instrumentals. Those compositions became the foundation for Crooked Rider.

Around the same time, Simpsonelli was playing in a band with his friend Zach Graham, rehearsing above Graham's motorcycle shop International Motorsports and becoming increasingly part of the community there. When that group disbanded, Crooked Rider took shape as a new home for the compositions and a way for the two to keep playing together.

Crooked Rider went on to perform at motorcycle shows, parties and events in and around Vancouver, while Simpsonelli continued writing and recording material for the project. Several rhythm section members came and went, but Scott Paulley and Amrit Basi became the longtime rhythmic foundation for the band.

Now Crooked Rider is entering a new chapter - new recordings, an album's worth of material in development, rumors of a triumphant return in 2027, and a renewed focus on the compositions themselves for film, media and other creative collaborations including a game for the new single, "Gunfire At Dusk!".

Music