The Wynona Riders were an East Bay pop punk band formed in 1988 by Jim Tyler (drums), Eric Matson (guitar), Ron Murphy (bass). In 1989, Ron Greer (Skip) joined the band as the lead singer. It was named after the actress, Winona Ryder.
With internal struggles affecting the bands cohesiveness early on, line up changes left the band pursuing other acts before returning to a more solid line up consisting of Ron Greer, Dave Henwood, Joe Selby, and Richie Bucher. In 1994, Skip had asked Lookout! to release demos and re-record their tracks resulting in the creation of the JD Salinger record. It also featured a cover of Kim Wilde's Kids in America. Following the success of the JD Salinger release, they embarked on a successful six week tour in support of the album. The band then wrote material and released it on What Else? Records under the interim name of "The Nation of Wenonah"as a tribute to D.C. band, "The Nation of Ulysses".
Later, time was booked into Andy Ernst's Art of Ears studio, where "J.D. Salinger" had been recorded to do an EP for Lookout!, but before the band entered the studio they suffered something of a meltdown and broke up onstage at 924 Gilman St. in Berkeley, ironically while performing as the opening band for another Lookout! band, Fifteen's farewell show.
Skip and Joe formed the band "Toyboat" with former Red # and Hi-Fives drummer Julie Rose and bassist Adam Turk. E.C. joined the band "Three Years Down", and Richie went to work at a bakery. A short year later toyboat would disband and Joe Selby would join Three Years Down as their bass player with Skip moving to New York to pursue a career in information technology.