The Long Ryders originally disbanded in 1987 but have periodically regrouped for brief reunions. The only new material released by the band since 1987 was the 2017 single, "Bear in the Woods". In 2017, the Long Ryders were offered a week's free studio time by Larry Chatman at Dr. Dre's Los Angeles recording studio, Record One. Chatman, who in the 1980s was part of the Long Ryders' road crew, had since become Dr. Dre's personal assistant, helping to oversee the studio. The band had hired Chatman as a roadie for several tours in the 1980s and made him the bass player when Long Ryder bassist Tom Stevens left the band before their final tour in 1987. Guitarist Sid Griffin: "For the last thirty years he has been telling me that he had never forgotten how kind the Long Ryders were to him when he was down and out in L.A. ... Larry kept saying, "I am going to pay you back."
