Karina Rykman Takes Her Summer Joyride to the Talkhouse

When Karina Rykman takes to the Talkhouse stage this Thursday, it will be the culmination of a wild ride of a summer. She’s played festivals from Telluride to Levitate, rocked out with My Morning Jacket in Detroit, and played alongside Gaslight Anthem at Summer Stage in Central Park.

“It’s been surreal,” she said when reached by phone before she boarded yet another flight on the heels of yet another show. “For better or worse, I haven’t had a second to catch my breath. I’ve just been swept up in this insane wave of adrenaline.”

The adrenaline is contagious — her crowds have been hanging on her every word, and for a performer who just came out with her debut album in 2023, it looks like it’s only going to get bigger from here.

Even though the New York City native started performing when she was 17, her career really started to take off when she was 22, in her final year at New York University.

“Dave Dreiwitz, the bassist for Ween, bestowed on me the greatest gift of my life,” she said.

Dreiwitz had been playing with pianist Marco Benevento’s band, and when Ween decided to get back together, he recommended Rykman to take his place on the bass. In fact, he insisted that “the only person to fill his shoes would be Karina.”

Her years playing with Benevento’s band were formative in her journey as a musician.

“Marco is one of the greatest musical and life mentors,” she said. “He showed me what it means to lead a band, what it means to be a real musician. I still play with him, and that relationship has shaped me and how I approach everything.”

A year or two into touring with Benevento, Rykman started writing her own songs. She had collaborated on songwriting before, but this was the beginning of a new journey for her. She started it with no expectation.

“I was just coming from a genuine place of just wanting more music in my life. Not knowing what it was going to sound like, or what the direction was going to be,” she said. “The first song I wrote was ‘Plants.’ It was a five-minute long instrumental song, and it got over a million streams. If Karina Rykman in 2019 could see Karina Rykman now, she’d absolutely pass out.”

So she kept going. She began writing lyrics. She started getting interest from people who had previously been her heroes — people like Trey Anastasio, who co-produced “Joyride,” her debut album.

“The fact that he took an interest still floors me,” she said humbly. “But so many people touched this album. Gabe Monro, a childhood friend, is the other producer and songwriter on it. Without Gabe, there’s no Karina. And my core band, Chris Corsico on drums and Adam November on guitar, they’re my guys from day one.”

“Joyride,” the name of her first album, seems particularly fitting given the past few years of Rykman’s journey, which seem to be infused with a sense of joy and gratitude.

“It’s the product of these last few years of growth and friendship and travel and experiences,” she said, “and I wanted to put it all together. There’s a song on the album called ‘Joyride,’ which is so emblematic of what it’s felt like.”

So her launch from being a part of a group to leading an eponymous band has been, to put it mildly, successful. This is the first summer touring with her debut album, and just last week, she was able to take to the stage in Central Park.

“As a lifelong New Yorker, playing Summer Stage was a bucket list item,” she said. “It’s been an amazing summer of being able to collaborate with so many of my favorite artists and play in front of so many people.”

And even though her career is building momentum quickly, it’s all still just the beginning.

“This project is still in its infancy,” she said. “It’s cool to see the traction it’s gotten — it’s a big fun wave we are all riding.”

Rykman and her band will be riding the wave right into Stephen Talkhouse on Thursday, August 29. It’s a venue she’s no stranger to — she had a great time last year playing with Andry Frasco, who she says can “take over any space and turn it into a raucous party.”

“The Talkhouse is such a crazy place,” Rkyman said. “It’s divey and legendary and the amount of talent that’s graced that small stage, just a few inches off the floor. This will be the last show before we dive into fall tour, and I’m so stoked to have this Out East celebration of a summer well played.”

Karina Rykman performs at Stephen Talkhouse on Thursday, August 29, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40 at stephentalkhouse.com. The Stephen Talkhouse is at 161 Main Street in Amagansett.