Hello everyone it’s your host Daniel from Dulaxi, and today I have with me the exceptional Peningo Riders from Rye, United States. And Peningo Riders is here to discuss their redemptive single “Pawn Shop Guitar” which was released on April 24th, 2026. So, welcome, Peningo Riders!. But before we begin our interview, to our audience; here is what you need to know about this artist.
Rising from a collaboration that began in a simple guitar lesson, Peningo Riders is a high-octane rock outfit founded by Eddie Pellon and Russ Davis, two passionate musicians devoted to preserving the authentic spirit of classic American rock music. Deeply influenced by legendary acts such as The Allman Brothers, Bob Marley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, The Band, Grateful Dead, Foreigner, and Journey, the duo has crafted a sound that fuses Southern Rock, Blues, Country, Reggae, Cajun, and Roots Rock into something both nostalgic and uniquely their own. Driven by raw musicianship, emotional storytelling, and a fierce commitment to the “No AI” movement, Peningo Riders create music rooted in real instruments, real experiences, and the enduring heartbeat of American culture. Their growing momentum, fueled by the success of tracks like “Duck That Jeep” and “Love Ain’t Everything,” has established the band as an emerging force with a loyal and fast-growing fanbase. At the center of their artistry is their powerful single “Pawn Shop Guitar,” a gritty and soulful anthem recorded live at Factory Underground Studios in Norwalk, Connecticut, inspired by the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Michael and the resilience of farming communities in the American South. Through soul-stirring vocals, riveting guitar work, rich acoustic and electric textures, and deeply human storytelling, Peningo Riders channel themes of hardship, survival, redemption, and hope into music that feels timeless, cinematic, and emotionally lived-in. More than just performers, Eddie and Russ are storytellers committed to proving that rock music is far from a relic, it remains alive, passionate, and capable of capturing the spirit of everyday American life one song at a time.
Having this brief Introduction about Peningo Riders, I’m sure new and current fans must be excited about our Interview today.
INTERVIEW SESSION
Daniel: Peningo Riders, your origin story began from a simple guitar lesson between Eddie Pellon and Russ Davis, at what exact moment did that interaction evolve into a deeper artistic partnership that birthed the band?
Peningo Riders: It happened right in the middle of a lesson while we were working on Zac Brown’s “Free.” I was venting to Russ about a situation with my girlfriend, and suddenly the inspiration just hit me like a freight train. I stood up and shouted, “Love Ain’t Everything!” I paused for a second and added, “but it’s a damn good way to start.” That was the exact moment Peningo Riders was born. We abandoned the guitar lesson, and shifted directly into a songwriting session, utilizing our combined perspectives and skills to craft something personal, emotionally and musically expressive, and real. That moment was the spontaneous birth of a creative partnership, built on no-nonsense storytelling that rocks.
That partnership eventually grew into what we now call the Peningo Riders Nation. It’s more than just a fanbase; it’s a community and a family of followers who connect with that same unfiltered, gritty storytelling. It’s for the people who live for the music, the road, and the truth in between. When you listen to our tracks, you aren’t just a fan, you’re part of the Nation.
Daniel: Your sound draws from legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, and Led Zeppelin, how do you balance honoring these influences while still carving out a distinct identity as Peningo Riders?
Peningo Riders: We treat those legends as our foundation, not our ceiling. We love to use that “old school” sonic palette, acoustic grit, electric riffs and soaring solos, slide guitars, the Hammond B3, driving rhythms on a live drum kit, to paint modern pictures, and create our own distinct sound. But the unique identity of Peningo Riders comes from the synergy between me and Russ.
I bring the raw “Peningo DNA”, the stories, the emotional grit, real-world experiences, and a sense of what kind of musical setting I imagine for the story… Russ is a powerhouse musician, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, with a brilliant ability to create the melodies and instrument parts that bring my vision to life, then masterfully blends all the elements in production, creating a track that’s magically better than the sum of all its individual parts. While I’m the storyteller, Russ is the architect who ensures the music reflects our influences, while remaining its own beast, current and inviting.
It’s this partnership that creates a home for the Peningo Riders Nation, our community of listeners who crave that authentic, unfiltered rock energy.
Daniel: As storytellers rooted in American life, what core philosophy guides the kind of narratives you choose to tell through your music?
Peningo Riders: Resilience and authenticity are the north stars for us. Russ and I have lived full lives, we’ve seen the highs, felt the lows, and gathered a lifetime of influential experiences that, in many ways, represent a true piece of Americana. We don’t write “fluff.” Our philosophy is about taking those real-world stories and translating them into music that reflects the “Dirt Road” reality of life.
We believe the most powerful songs are the ones that carry a heartbeat of truth. That’s why we’ve brought these stories of experience to our music. We want to highlight the struggles, the hard-earned victories, and the things people actually survive. If a story doesn’t have that genuine sense of lived experience behind it, it simply doesn’t make it into a Peningo Riders track. We’re inviting the Peningo Riders Nation to walk those roads with us through every note we play and sing.
Daniel: “Pawn Shop Guitar” carries a deeply emotional narrative, what was the defining moment or image that first sparked the idea for this song?
Peningo Riders: It was sparked by a very real image of restoration, but it’s rooted in a heavy piece of history. My family experienced immense loss during Hurricane Michael, watching as over $750,000 worth of cotton was literally blown away as the storm tore through the Panhandle. To see that much hard work vanish in an instant is something you never forget.
A few years later, I found myself in a pawn shop in Marianna, Florida, not far from those same cotton fields. I spotted an Epiphone Les Paul and bought it on the spot. I took it back and told Russ, “This guitar has a story to tell.” That was the moment “Pawn Shop Guitar” was born. We wrote it to honor everyone who has suffered through hardship, but stayed resilient and found a way to make their comeback. It’s built on the idea that even when life knocks you down and breaks you, you can still find your “magical sound” and rise again from the ashes.
Daniel: The story of BJ Hawkins and his father is both fictional and rooted in real-life tragedy, how did you approach blending reality with storytelling to maintain authenticity?
Peningo Riders: Reality provides the “emotional bones” to be able to tell the authentic details of the story, and the inspiration for the fictional BJ Hawkins was also very real. My girlfriend, Mary, actually went to high school with BJ’s dad in the Panhandle. I spent time riding in the tractor with the real BJ while he worked the farm, showing me how the systems worked while he was planting peanuts.
When you’ve sat in that cab and seen the hard work that goes into the land, you feel a responsibility to get the story right. Fictionalizing the narrative a bit allowed us to take those massive, tragic events of the storm and make them feel intimate and universal, but the heart of the character is that young man on the tractor. We maintain authenticity by making sure the “Dirt Road” details, like the specific weight of the work and the bond between a father and son, are accurate, and hit home emotionally. It’s about honoring the people like BJ and his family who are the backbone of the Peningo Riders Nation.
Daniel: Lines referencing the “ole Cat 5” and the loss of the farm carry immense weight, what specific lyric in the song do you feel captures the emotional core of the story most powerfully?
Peningo Riders: The line that hits the hardest is “Life feels different when we have you around.” That’s the heart of the entire story. It’s not just about a piece of wood and six strings; it’s about that missing piece of your soul.
In fact, the “ole Cat 5” reference came directly from a conversation with Mary’s mom. She’s in her 80s, lived on that Alabama-Florida line her whole life, and I’ll never forget her saying in that thick, beautiful southern drawl: “Everything changed after that Ole Cat 5.” That sentence stuck with me because it summarized the total shift in reality for an entire community. When you lose everything, finding that one symbol of who you used to be, like that guitar, changes the way you look at the future.
We truly believe that music is the common thread that helps keep us whole. When you don’t have it, there’s a void. For the Peningo Riders, music is that unifying force that helps us navigate the wreckage and find a way back to ourselves. Finding that guitar represents the moment the silence ends and life starts feeling “different” in the best way possible.
Daniel: The journey down Highway 90 feels symbolic, what does that road represent in the broader message of the song?
Peningo Riders: Highway 90 is the absolute artery of the Panhandle. It’s the road everyone in that area has to travel to get from point A to point B, but its history goes much deeper than just a commute. This year actually marks the 100th Anniversary of Highway 90, it was Florida’s first paved east-west highway, established in 1926 along the historic “Old Spanish Trail.” Before the Interstates existed, this was “El Camino Real”, the Royal Road. It’s a path that has connected people for centuries, tracing the downtown hearts of nearly every county in the Panhandle. To us, it represents a century of grit; a road that has seen every storm and every triumph of the last hundred years.
There’s a strange twist of fate involved, too: the very same pawn shop in Marianna where I bought the guitar, located right on that historic 90, was actually leveled by a tornado in January 2024. Just like the road itself, the people of Marianna showed that incredible resilience and rebuilt that shop. It’s up and running right now. So, in the song, the road isn’t just a physical journey toward getting your life back on track; it’s a 100-year-old testament to the spirit of the people who call the Panhandle home. It proves that even when the “Royal Road” gets hit, we always find a way to pave it back.
Daniel: At its heart, the song speaks about resilience and restoration, what message do you want listeners to take away after experiencing “Pawn Shop Guitar”?
Peningo Riders: The message is that no matter how hard the storm hits, or how much of your “cotton” gets blown away, restoration is always possible. Whether it’s a farm, a family legacy, or a piece of wood and six strings, if you can find the strength to pick it back up, you can make it sing again.
We want listeners to realize that while an “Ole Cat 5” might change everything in an instant, it doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Music is the common thread that helps us find our way back and keeps us whole through the wreckage. If you can find that “magical sound” again, you can start the next chapter. You can always find your way back to life, one chord at a time.
Daniel: The track runs for nearly six minutes and evolves like a musical journey, how did you structure the song to maintain engagement while telling such a layered story?
Peningo Riders: We treated it like a cinematic experience because a story this big deserves a wide-angle lens. To build that world, Russ and I layered in a Dobro slide combined with acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, even bringing in a fiddle to ground the sound in that dusty Panhandle atmosphere. The real challenge was telling a narrative this deep in the time we had; like many of the great Americana classics, you just can’t sing a story like this in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Russ masterfully composed and produced the song to exactly 5:54, just shy of the six-minute mark. He knew exactly how to let the instruments breathe while keeping the momentum moving forward. We used the rap section as a bold bridge to push the song into its final climax, adding a modern sense of urgency that heightens the emotional payoff. In a world of “TikTok songs,” we wanted to give the listener the space to actually feel the tension and the release. We refused to rush the emotional resolution because we wanted the Peningo Riders sound to be a journey you actually live through, not just a track you skip past.
Daniel: The inclusion of elements like narration, harmonies, and even a rap bridge is striking, what inspired this fusion, and how did you ensure it felt cohesive?
Peningo Riders: It’s about recognizing that American music isn’t a monolith, it’s a tapestry. If you look at our influences, they range from the storytelling of Bob Marley to the grit of Led Zeppelin and the soul of the Allman Brothers. We didn’t want to be a museum act; we wanted to create a sound that reflects the diversity of the world we live in today.
The narration gives the track that “Front Porch” authenticity, it sets the stage for a true story. The harmonies provide the emotional soul, and the rap bridge provides a modern, rhythmic heartbeat. We often refer to it as the” Peningo Riders Express” because we’re moving forward, taking these different American sounds and weaving them together.
To ensure it felt cohesive, we relied on Russ’s mastery as a producer. He made sure the rap didn’t feel like an “add-on,” but rather a natural extension of the guitar riffs. He balanced the frequencies so that the Dobro and the modern beat occupy the same “Dirt Road.” It’s our way of being inclusive, building a sound where the old-school Southern Rock fans and the modern listeners can all find a seat in the Peningo Riders Nation.
Daniel: Recording live at Factory Underground Studios adds to the “100% organic” identity, how did that live recording process influence the final sound and emotional delivery?
Peningo Riders: The Factory Underground Studios is exactly what the name implies. It’s located in the basement of a building where, like a factory, music is “cracked out” of the soil. Founded by Ethan Isaac, the frontman for the band Edisun, the studio feels more like a living music museum. You’ve got the old Edisun tour bus parked outside, guitars and mandolins hanging from every wall, iconic photos everywhere, and eclectic rooms that just breathe inspiration. They even have a Marshall amp there that was given to them by Slash.
When you’re surrounded by that kind of history and energy, it naturally finds its way into the tracks. Recording live in that environment allowed us to capture the “air” in the room and the raw chemistry between the musicians that you just can’t fake with digital overdubs. It’s unfiltered and honest. If there’s a slight imperfection in a take, we usually leave it, because in a place like the Factory, those human moments are where the soul lives. That eclectic backdrop is essential to the natural, organic sound that defines Peningo Riders.
Daniel: Looking back at your earlier releases like “Love Ain’t Everything” and “Duck That Jeep,” how does “Pawn Shop Guitar” represent growth in your artistry?
Peningo Riders: It represents a major evolution in how we translate real-life experience into a musical journey, and a huge part of that growth comes down to the synergy between me and Russ. Every song we release is rooted in truth, but “Pawn Shop Guitar” was a different kind of challenge that required a much higher level of composition.
The growth here lies in our ability to articulate a complicated, multi-layered saga in a way that keeps the listener locked in for nearly six minutes. While I bring the “DNA”, the stories and the raw grit, Russ really stepped into his own as a master composer and producer on this track. He was able to take those raw emotional threads and weave them into a cinematic 5:54 production that feels both ambitious and intentional. We’ve moved from simply writing songs to composing immersive stories. It shows our growth as a partnership, proving we aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of Southern Rock to ensure the narrative hits home with the intensity it deserves.
Daniel: The real-life events surrounding Hurricane Michael clearly left a mark, how did revisiting that experience shape you personally and creatively?
Peningo Riders: It reminds you of what truly matters. Personally, it humbles you to look back at that kind of destruction and the sheer power of nature. Creatively, it pushed us to be much more precise with our lyrics because you simply can’t fake the weight of an “Ole Cat 5” storm; you have to respect the history and the voices of the people who actually lived through it.
Writing this song to honor those survivors was incredibly fulfilling for us. “Pawn Shop Guitar” is ultimately a song of hope and resilience for everyone who was affected. A line that listeners really seem to love is “God Fearing Jackson County FLA man.” To us, that line represents all the men and women in that area, and across the South, who carry that same quiet strength and faith. It’s a tribute to the character of a community that knows how to endure. It shaped us by proving that our music can serve a higher purpose: turning a tragedy into a “comeback” anthem for the people who are the backbone of the Peningo Riders community.
Daniel: Your commitment to a “No AI” approach is bold in today’s industry, what drives that stance, and how does it define your artistic integrity?
Peningo Riders: AI can’t feel the grit of a slide guitar or the ache of a memory. Our integrity is built entirely on human performance and lived experience. To be honest, Russ and I are unapologetically old school. To Russ, the idea of AI music is an absolute abomination, a sentiment I share 100%. We are fascinated by how music was produced in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. During that era, there was no AI; every note was earned through sweat and talent. Like the works of Beethoven or Mozart, the great songs from that rock era will remain timeless for centuries because they contain a human soul that technology simply cannot replicate.
We often look to the Allman Brothers album, Where It All Begins, as a North Star. They recorded that as a live band in a studio, capturing the raw energy and the “conversations” between the instruments in real-time. That is the exact philosophy we bring to our sessions at the Factory Underground. If the sound isn’t coming from a human heart and human hands, it’s not a Peningo Riders record. We aren’t interested in what an algorithm can spit out in five seconds; we want to create something that has the staying power to live for fifty years.
Daniel: From your beginnings to now building a growing fanbase, what has been the most challenging part of your journey so far?
Peningo Riders: Balancing the momentum! The really funny thing is that the countless hours we pour into the creation of our music is by far the easier part. The “Peningo Riders Express” is moving fast, and as an independent outfit, managing the production, distribution, and marketing while maintaining our “unfiltered” standards, is the much more challenging part, while at the same time continuing to write and create the stories and tracks for the next albums ahead. It’s a full-time passion!
Daniel: As artists deeply connected to storytelling, how have your personal life experiences continued to influence the evolution of your music?
Peningo Riders: Everything is fuel. Whether it’s a quiet afternoon navigating the Long Island Sound or dealing with the complex, gritty realities of life in the South, it all eventually finds its way into a verse. We don’t just write these stories; we live them. That lived experience is the “connective tissue” between us and the people listening to our music.
We’ve found that the evolution of our music mirrors the evolution of our own lives. As we experience more, the songs become more layered. The most beautiful thing about music is how it acts as a mirror. Many times, a listener will put themselves into one of our songs and find a reflection of their own journey. We’ve all had that experience where you’ve heard a song a hundred times, but it isn’t until you go through something specific, a loss, a comeback, a storm, that the lyrics suddenly make perfect sense. It’s like the song was waiting for you to catch up to its meaning. That’s the kind of depth we strive for; we want to write the songs that stay with you until you need them.
Daniel: With over 25,000 streams and a rapidly growing community, how have fans been responding specifically to the story and emotion behind “Pawn Shop Guitar”?
Peningo Riders: First off, we are incredibly grateful for the support. We’ve actually just cleared 45,000 total streams as a band, and “Pawn Shop Guitar” alone has brought in 13,000 of those since we released it on April 24th. But for us, the numbers are just a reflection of the connection. People are really latching onto the resilience in the track.
We’re seeing a lot of folks calling it a “lived testimony” or even a “movie in its own right.” They’re responding to the fact that the song feels “lived-in” rather than manufactured. Whether it’s the “Strings of Survival” or that “unapologetically raw” live sound from the Factory, people are noticing that there are no AI shortcuts here, just real instruments and a story that actually means something. We get messages from folks who feel like we’re telling their story, whether they’ve survived a literal storm like a “Cat 5” or a personal loss. It’s been fulfilling to see that we aren’t just singing at them; we’re singing for them, honoring the grit and the spirit of the people who make up our growing community.
Daniel: Do you find that listeners are connecting more with the musical composition or the narrative storytelling, and how do you interpret that connection?
Peningo Riders: In the world of Southern Rock and Americana, the two are completely inseparable. You can’t have one without the other and still call it honest. We like to think of it as a “handshake” between the ears and the heart. The musical composition, the layered, organic structure and flow that Russ meticulously builds as each track evolves at the Factory Underground, is what initially grabs your attention, and then it’s the pure and authentic sound of each instrument and vocal performance. Those live, unfiltered textures are the “hook” that pulls the listener in.
But the narrative is why they stay. The story is the soul of the track; it’s the Peningo DNA that gives the music its purpose.
We interpret this connection as a sign that people are genuinely hungry for something authentic. In an era of manufactured sounds and AI-generated lyrics, listeners are craving the sound of real human hands and the weight of real human experience. When they hear the Dobro crying, or the fiddle lifting the melody, it underscores the emotion of the “Ole Cat 5” or the resilience of a Jackson County farmer. To us, that connection proves that the Peningo Riders sound is hitting exactly where it’s supposed to: it’s opening the door with a killer riff, and then inviting the listener to sit down and hear the truth.
Daniel: With the momentum you’re building, what can fans expect next from Peningo Riders in terms of new music, collaborations, or live performances?
Peningo Riders: The momentum is definitely building, and we have no intention of slowing down. We’re constantly back at Factory Underground Studios, working on the next leg of the journey. Fans can expect more grit, more anthems, more epic productions as well as intimate raw renditions. And especially, more of those deep-dive stories that define our sound.
In fact, we have a track ready to fire off this summer, with an intriguing and mysterious edge, called “High Street Roadhouse.” It’s a bit of a departure for us, a Cajun-style honky tonk anthem inspired by a cool iconic spot right here in our hometown of Rye, NY. It captures that raw, unfiltered energy you only find in those legendary local dives where the music is loud and the stories are lived and told.
We’ll be announcing the official release date for that track very soon, but it’s just the start of what we have planned for the rest of 2026. The community of followers we’re building is getting bigger every day, and we’re ready to keep this freight train moving full speed ahead. If you love no-nonsense storytelling that rocks, you’re in the right place.
Daniel: Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Peningo Riders, and how do you plan to keep the spirit of authentic rock alive in future projects?
Peningo Riders: Our vision is to be the home for authentic storytelling in the modern era. We will continue to be beacons of the heart and soul that defined the music we were raised on, but delivered with the power and reality of 2026.
It’s actually quite simple for us: all the music that formed our foundation was recorded with raw, unfiltered authenticity. Those records had a heartbeat because they came from human hands and real lives. That’s our blueprint because, honestly, it’s what we know, and what we believe in. As long as there are dirt roads, hard truths, and stories to tell, the Peningo Riders will be there to put them to music, from our passionate rocking hearts to yours.
Having Had A Close Listen To This Exceptional Song, Here’s My Thought.
Listening to “Pawn Shop Guitar” felt less like hearing a song and more like stepping directly into the weathered, emotionally bruised world of BJ Hawkins and his father, where every lyric, instrumental passage, and vocal inflection carried the weight of real hardship and quiet perseverance. What struck me immediately was how naturally Peningo Riders balanced storytelling with musicianship, allowing the acoustic guitar to breathe with an almost human vulnerability while the electric layers slowly intensified the emotional gravity of the narrative. The fiddle added an aching sense of nostalgia that lingered over the track like a memory refusing to fade, and the percussion stayed restrained enough to let every emotional detail settle deeply. Vocally, the performance felt incredibly honest, especially because the singer never forced emotion; instead, the weathered tone and conversational phrasing made every line sound lived-in, particularly the lyric “When life is full of sadness got to make your own fun,” which landed with devastating sincerity and perfectly reinforced the themes of resilience and emotional survival. I was especially impressed by the structure of the song because its near six-minute runtime never felt excessive; every narration, harmony, guitar solo, and dynamic shift contributed meaningfully to the unfolding story. The rap bridge was another standout moment for me because it introduced a modern edge without disrupting the rustic authenticity of the composition, instead amplifying the tension and setting up the emotional climax with surprising effectiveness. What ultimately stayed with me most was the way the song transformed a guitar into something symbolic and deeply human, a vessel carrying grief, memory, identity, and healing between father and son. The production deserves praise as well for remaining warm, organic, and refreshingly unpolished, preserving the raw emotional texture of the performance rather than burying it beneath studio excess. By the end, “Pawn Shop Guitar” left me feeling as though I had not simply listened to a track, but experienced an entire emotional journey rooted in loss, redemption, and the enduring power of music to reconnect broken spirits.
~ Daniel (Dulaxi Team).
Finally to our audience, I urge to listen to “Pawn Shop Guitar”, add it to your playlist and be inspired by it and on behalf of Dulaxi I like to appreciate you all by saying thank you everyone, See you on our next interview.
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