Road Dust is about to cross an ocean and a debt they thought was buried is coming due.
The band should be celebrating their first European tour. Instead, the cracks are widening. Old enemies resurface. The road has a long memory — and it’s done waiting.
Across the country, Lee is pushing hard toward Ponopolis, riding a machine that’s already past its limits, knowing one breakdown could leave him stranded and finished. In Hamburg, a hungry band called Lenny and the Leftovers records their first album, only to learn the master tapes aren’t theirs anymore. They’re leverage. And leverage always belongs to someone willing to squeeze.
This isn’t a comeback story. It’s what happens when the road finally decides to collect.
P.S. In Ponopolis, names don’t always belong to the people using them.
Ponopolis VI
Deadwood
Several months after playing one of the biggest gigs in American history, Ray and his thieving country-rock band, Road Dust, are flush with cash and wrestling with their next move. But Ray can’t shake the ghost of a memory: Deadwood.
It’s the late ’90s. A younger Ray and his older brother roll into Deadwood, South Dakota, with a plan to relieve a group of West Coast tech millionaires of some cash. But when an old legend from Deadwood’s forgotten past—a woman known as China Doll—steps into their scheme, along with Dom Russo, a mob boss out of Chicago, everything starts to unravel.
Ponopolis V
The Needle Drops
After five years, two albums, and countless tours, Road Dust is barely scraping by. When they’re tipped off about the job of a lifetime, the risks can’t hold them back. Facing their greatest foe yet—Leon Vexler, the ruthless CEO of Heartland Music—Road Dust and some of their favorite acts must survive long enough to play The Needle Drops Festival, one of the biggest musical events in American history. With everything on the line, including their lives, the ride will be epic.
Ponopolis IV
Road Devil
The band hits the highway, throttling towards the heartland of American music: Nashville’s iconic Music Row. Yet, the echoes of a wild Vegas escapade linger, demanding a final reckoning. Join Road Dust on an electrifying journey through the soul of music, stitched with chaos, and shadowed by a fierce, unlikely ally. Amidst the whirlwind, B walks a razor’s edge—torn between the thumping heartbeats of bass aficionado Lolly and the daunting task of laying down ‘Road Devil,’ the groundbreaking album destined to cement their legacy or scatter their dreams to the winds.
Ponopolis III
The Vegas Job
Two months after the infamous shooting at Moby Dick’s, B and his band are on the road to Sin City for the greatest heist of their musical careers. But like any heist, things don’t always go as planned.
Ray guitar, vocals, bandleader, and thief
Billy (B) bass, and muscle
Malicia (Mal) keys, fiddle, vocals, and decoy
Harry (Rip) drums, crew and lookout
Ktel mixer, lock and alarm specialist
Ponopolis II
Into the Slaughter
Ten years later.
Seven stories, all of which culminate—explosively—on the night of August 22nd, 2009.
The band Road Dust, in the era of illegal music, finds their own less-than-legal way to scrape by in the new era. Kate, after leaping from the frying pan into the fire, finds a new direction in life. Joey, now a senior in high school, winds up in a bet he can’t lose. Jerry looks for absolution in a bottle; Lenny the bouncer, war vet, and roadie; Dan the cowboy… What do they all have in common? They’ll all converge at Moby Dick’s, the notorious downtown Ponopolis bar, for a gig they’ll never forget.
Ponopolis
Book One
Welcome to Ponopolis. It’s August 22nd, 1999.
Seven-year-old Joey gets a harsh taste of reality. Neville has just discovered himself. B’s playing the gig of his life. Ross is on the run, but no one knows why. Steven vanished after swiping a Greek appetizer. Is the ghost of a long-dead Dakota Indian Chief haunting the streets? Or is it just another day in Ponopolis?