The history of the Rival Sons: early years, formation, success and creativity
Rival Sons - this is the name of an American blues-rock band from Los Angeles, formed by in Long Beach in 2009! During their career, Rival Sons released 6 full-length albums and one EP, as well as a sea of delightful tracks ... Fans love them for their expressive sound inspired by the legendary Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes… Remarkable, but Rival Sons gained popularity as performers of classic hard rock with modern touches only in 2012, after the release of their second studio album pressure & time. They got the support of the producer Dave Cobb, who managed each of their albums, and became adored in their native States ... How did it all begin? Let's take a look at this fascinating story together...
Formation, composition
Group Rival Sons was educated in 2009 year in Long Beach, California, Michael Miley (drums) and Scott Holiday (guitar). Basically, the band was formed from the "remnants" of Holiday's previous project... Before Rival Sons, vocalist Jay Buchanan recorded as a solo artist. It was discovered by Holiday on MySpace. It turned out that Miley had already worked with him before, so the place of the vocalist went to him in an instant!
As for the bassist Robin Everhart, even before that, Miley met him at a charity concert in Long Beach ... A little later, keyboardist Todd Ogren will join them, but the union of this particular four led to the formation of Rival Sons!
Curiously, at the beginning of their joint journey, the vocalist Jay Buchanan was skeptical about the future of the rock and roll band. True, he changed his mind after the album Before the Fireproduced by Dave Cobb. After that, Buchanan devoted himself entirely to the project ... In the same 2009, the group was named "a rock band worth hearing!" A little later, Rival Sons were the opening act AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath…
The main stages of creativity: ups and downs, success and losses
His first physical and second release Rival Sons released in 2011. The plate, designed Storm Thorgerson, was named pressure & time and was voted second album of the year by Classic Rock magazine! After that, Rival Sons went on tour in the States with the band Evanescence…
Regarding head down - the group's third studio album - on it Rival Sons still adhered to classic rock riffs and blues sounds ... The album was released in 2012 and was warmly received by critics, although its success was modest (it mainly fell on Scandinavia, where Head Down made the top 20).
Before Rival Sons released their fourth album, the line-up changed: due to constant touring, Robin Everhart left the group (he was soon replaced by Dave Beste). Plate Great Western Valkyrie, produced by the same Dave Cobb, saw the light in mid-2014!
Your fifth album Hollow Bones, the group also recorded in Nashville. Pre-single from it, Hollow Bones, Pt. one", streamed online in March 2016…
For the next two years, the band opened for Deep Purple and Black Sabbathbefore signing a contract with Low country sound in 2018…
Soon the sixth Feral Roots album was released, which was nominated for a Grammy and gave such hit singles as "Back in the Woods", "Do Your Worst" and "Too Bad" (Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance…)
The creative process and its subtleties ...
A curious fact, but the band's second album was recorded in just 20 days! Produced by Dave Cobb… Later Scott Holiday will say:
“Rock and roll cannot be overestimated! If this happens, he loses his spontaneity ... Rock and roll is a knife fight, not a knife dance! This is what we were aiming for…”
It is worth noting that the group delighted fans with new recordings regularly! In 10 years, 6 full-length albums and one EP were released! Talking about the album Great Western Valkyrie 2014 Holiday emphasized:
“Our goal was to keep the sound as pristine as possible! We wanted to keep it accurate, to convey to the listener exactly what was going on in the room when we recorded it all…”
Incredible alliance with Dave Cobb
From the very beginning of its journey, the group maintains very close and warm relations with Dave Cobb, a producer who pored over all their albums... It is for this reason that he is often referred to as "another member of Rival Sons"! Cobb's value to the band is that he's interested in ease of recording as well as live sound... Dave inspires the whole team by capturing the best vocal vibes Jay Buchanan…
“He is an incredible guy! Working with him means one take - done! It is a great pleasure, complete freedom of action ... We can safely experiment, which is really important for us ... "
Style and influence
According to critics, the music Rival Sons reminiscent of the sound of the 1970s! The group is clearly inspired by the works of masters such as Prince, The Roots, Di Angelo, Muddy Waters… Jay Buchanan repeatedly named Van Morrison as the main person who had a great influence on his manner of performance, style:
"I can't overstate his influence on me as a writer and vocalist..."
