Stephen McCarthy is a little anxious. “Even though there’s a lot going on right now, I feel like I need to make something happen,” says the singer and multi-instrumentalist who’s been called the consummate sideman.

In the coming days, the Richmond native will perform as a “utility member” of the Jayhawks, inarguably one of the great Americana bands, at the Birchmere in Alexandria, and then travel to Europe for three weeks of gigs with the Long Ryders, the legendary second-generation country rock group he co-founded in the ‘80s. The group, which Goldmine Magazine cited for laying the foundation for what would eventually be called Americana, is supporting its new album, “September, November,” the second since reforming in 2019. McCarthy will stay in Europe for a week of gigs in Scandinavia with singer Carla Olson, with whom he just released a terrific duets album, “Night Comes Falling.”

The Douglas S. Freeman High School graduate, proficient on guitar, dobro, bass, pedal steel and piano, is also featured as a guest player on the new Sparklehorse album, “Bird Machine,” and on his friend Kevin Pittman’s new disc, “Sundog.” He and ex-roomie Pittman have also been planning an archival release of recordings of the Skychiefs, the group they formed together, and abandoned, 30 years ago.

McCarthy will be performing at a free in-store performance at Plan 9 Records on Friday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m., joining with Pittman to promote their respective new discs and perform a few of those lost Skychiefs songs. You can check out Pittman’s music here or through his Facebook page.

It’s a rare local gig for McCarthy, a hometown boy who has made a considerable mark on Americana music while remaining relatively anonymous in the background. “Most of my career I’ve had has been finding where this country music and rock ‘n’ roll collide,” he says. “I’ve been asking, what is that intersection?”

McCarthy recently talked about his wide-ranging career in twang for Style Weekly, and what comes next.

Style: The new album with Carla Olson is really good. Have you been able to promote it?

Stephen McCarthy: No. We’re 3,000 miles apart. We’ve only done a handful of shows, like McCabe’s in L.A. We did a couple of shows there and had a few of the players from the album play. But besides that, not really – the album has really kind of existed on its own. It’s kind of flown under the radar. Carla and I go back to the mid-‘80s when she was working with Gene Clark of the Byrds. I was on their one album together, “So Rebellious a Lover” [1985]. I played some dobro and guitar. And before that Gene had sung with me on the first Long Ryders album.

What was Gene Clark like?

Gene was a good guy. He had his issues that took him down but a great songwriter and a really nice guy. When we got in touch with him and asked him to sing on this song, he said sure. We asked what he would charge us and he said, ‘how about 75 bucks and a six pack?’ That would be $300 and a case of beer in 2023 currency [laughs].

The Long Ryders were heavily influenced by the Byrds. What was it like to know and even play with your heroes?

We were there in L.A. at a good time and considered those guys kind of like older brothers, obviously they were more successful. Gene was encouraging. Chris Hillman was really nice. He said some really nice things to me, just me and him walking down Sunset Blvd. He paid me an honest compliment that meant the world to me, I can remember it like it was yesterday.

The Byrds came out of the folk tradition, but we had heard the Clash and people like that, so we were country music with more aggression than they were used to. It’s only natural. When you first record, you are leaning heavily on your influences and if you’re lucky, you’ll take the best of that and then add your own thing and come up with something new.

You made three records with the Long Ryders, which won college rock airplay and are now considered seminal works. But how were you received by the country audience?

We opened up one time for the artist Juice Newton at the Universal Amphitheatre. I remember our drummer Greg [Sowder]’s mother came backstage and said, ‘this audience is going to hate you.’ And I think she was right. If you were a hardcore traditional country music listener, you might not get it. It might be a little too rough around the edges for you.

Let’s backtrack. Except for the decade that you were working in LA, you’ve lived all your life in Richmond, right?

I was born and raised here. Freeman High School. I had a great upbringing, my parents were singing Irish ballads around the house and my brothers were listening to soul music and the Beach Boys. All of this stuff was coming at me and when I was 14, I started listening to country.

When did you start playing music?

It started with a Kingston 12-string guitar I had when I was 11. That was when a little voice popped up in my head and said, ‘this is what you’re going to do the rest of your life.’

Didn’t you play in some early bands with the late Bryan Harvey?

Bryan had a dog named Honcho and that’s what our group was called [laughs]. We’d play Beatles, Kinks, maybe a Charlie Rich tune. Later we had a band called Boys of Skateland, I was the drummer in that group, and it was more rockabilly.

How did you hook up with the Long Ryders?

I was playing in LA with Jimmy Morgan, who I went out there with. He had formed the Good Humor Band. I wanted him to do original music and while Jimmy had a great look and style, he was just interested in doing covers. So I decided to split off and I answered an ad in the LA version of the Trading Post called the Recycler. The ad read: “Band needs lead guitar player/singer, Influences: Buffalo Springfield meets the Clash.” I said ‘I can do that.’

So you auditioned?

Yes, I borrowed a guitar and an amp and went down there. I was playing bass at the time but I could play guitar. I went down there and that’s how it all started. Steve Wynn, my friend, was playing with them but he soon left to form the Dream Syndicate. The Fleshtones were hanging out there. I just ended up being that guy.

Did the first run of the band end amicably?

Our bass player Tom Stevens, who died in 2021, he quit first. I think bands usually have a shelf life of four, five years. He left the band and moved back to Indiana. With him gone, I left too. When 1988 closed, the band was over.

Did you keep tabs on each other?

We lost touch a little bit. There was some business stuff that would go on, but then we got an offer to play the Glastonbury festival and we went over. And then four or five years went by and we did one or two reunion shows or something. Then we were in New York in November 2016 to play the Bowery Ballroom, that terrible week of the election. I told Sid [Griffin] that if we’re going to play any more, we needed to put out some new music. He was skeptical at first, because he didn’t want to put out a crappy record. I said, ‘hey, we won’t release it if it’s crappy.’ But we made a really nice record [“Psychedelic Country Soul”] that came out in 2019 and we decided to do another one. Our producer Ed Stasium [known for working with the Ramones, the Talking Heads] is like a band member now. And we have a fourth member who has been touring with us on bass, Murray Hammond of the Old 97s.

How are the new Long Ryders different from the original group?

The sound is definitely going to change when you lose someone like Tom, who was a great singer and bass player. Murray’s great but it’s a different touch, a different sound, so the best thing you can do is not to try to sound like the old band, try to accept that things have changed and do something new and accept that things are how they are. Just play it like you feel it. I can’t say if the old way is better or the new way, it’s just different.

How has the reception been from longtime fans?

The fans are into it. And we’ve done very well in the charts overseas. We’ve been really lucky with Sirius Satellite Radio and the Outlaw Country Channel. We’ve even done a couple of their tours, they sponsor these Outlaw Country cruises, which are a blast. It’s all of our old friends – Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, NRBQ. It’s how we can still get our music out to the people. We’re older now and we aren’t going to get any country radio airplay out of Nashville.

How did you hook up with the Jayhawks?

We played together back in the old days, they opened up for us when we performed in Minneapolis at First Avenue. And I knew Mark Olsen. He had auditioned for the Long Ryders. But Gary [Louris] called me, maybe 20 years ago, and said, ‘hey, you want to come play?’ And I asked him if he wanted me to audition and he said, ‘no, just come and play.’ It just clicked. We have the same influences – country music and the Kinks — and I’ve been on a couple of their albums, like the last one. Gary told me, ‘whenever we can afford you, we want you to play with us.’ So I’m like a ‘utility player’ for them. I play guitar, pedal steel and sing although they sing like birds and don’t really need me.

Talk about your upcoming performance at Plan 9 in Carytown.

Kevin Pittman called me a month ago and said, why don’t we go to Plan 9 and do a teaser for our albums. So I said, I’ll play with you and you play with me and add some harmony. So we’ll be playing together the whole time. I’ve been in my house in Bellevue on the North Side since 1992, more than 30 years now, and Kevin was my first roommate. He had been in California and came back to Virginia and we had a songwriting partnership for about a year and a half . . . we must have written 20 songs or something. We called it the Skychiefs and played a couple of shows around town. We also did three recording sessions and had some friends from Austin and LA to fly in and play with us.

But I had some other projects going on, like Gutterball and touring overseas, and it got shelved. Wes Freed did the cover art for it and everything. I didn’t think about the Skychiefs for a long time but I pulled the cassette out recently and listened to it and thought, this is really great. So we’re going to perform a couple of those songs at Plan 9. I told Kevin, why don’t we release this stuff next year? It’s too good to be sitting on the shelf and he said, yes absolutely. So we’re going to compile that. I think some label would put it out, for sure.

When are you going to finally record a solo album?

I have stuff recorded. I actually did a solo record in 2012 and didn’t release it. There are some great songs on there. But I want to do a jug band record. There’s so many different things I want to do.

Stephen McCarthy and Kevin Pittman will perform live at Plan 9 Records on Friday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. Free. plan9music.com