Deer Ridge Correctional Institution sits just outside of Madras, Oregon, a farming community tucked in the Cascade Mountains. The minimum-security facility reads like a corporate campus with its low-slung buildings and a central courtyard that affords views of Mount Jefferson and the three Sisters. Last fall, we made a mission of recording our fifth edition of the PonyXpress Radio Series. A grant from Roundhouse Foundation in Sisters seeded the creation of this writing group, at the beginning of 2025 and we’ve been meeting monthly ever since.
Brock Lee, David Sankey, Jazzy Jeff, OH!, Ryan Brooks, Steven Leech, Richard Owens, Andrew Morrow, Thomas Derr, and Ricky Fay gathered around the microphone to record songs, poems, and perform a dramatic reading of Fay’s short story Meow. Bringing recording equipment into prison requires special authorization, thank you to our administrative liaison Brandon Duncan for making the process seamless.
LISTEN TO BATTLES & SONGS
Bonus round: Lost Script of the Villain by Ricky Fay, our memoirist who pulls forward childhood tales and family legends with humor and many, many asides. | TDS