Rival Sons
Rival Sons is a rock band formed in Long Beach, California, in 2009 and also affiliated with Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Jay Buchanan (lead vocals), Scott Holiday (guitar), Dave Beste (bass guitar) and Michael Miley (drums). In their most recent tour they were joined by keyboard player Jesse Nason, and Todd Ögren accompanied them on previous tours. They are signed to Atlantic Records via Dave Cobb's label Low Country Sound, an imprint of Elektra.
Rival Sons
Long Beach, California, U.S.
2009–present
- Jay Buchanan
- Scott Holiday
- Michael Miley
- Dave Beste
Robin Everhart
They have released eight albums and one EP, and have twice been nominated for Grammy awards.
History[edit]
Formation and debut album Before The Fire (2006–2009)[edit]
Rival Sons formed in Long Beach, where Jay Buchanan and Michael Miley lived. Buchanan previously recorded as a solo artist and with his Buchanan band. He independently released All Understood in 2004 and True Love EP in 2006. Rival Sons formed from the remnants of guitarist Scott Holiday's previous band.[1] He had been active in a number of bands, including Human Lab, who were signed to Atlantic Records, but which he left and formed Black Summer Crush with Michael Miley, Robin Everhart Thomas Flowers and original drummer J. Harley Gilmore. Black Summer Crush recorded an album and the vocals on those tracks were later replaced by Jay Buchanan and released as Rival Sons’ debut album.
In 2006 Holiday came across Buchanan while searching on MySpace for a singer. Drummer Michael Miley had previously worked with Buchanan (as well as having been in Veruca Salt and the Carson Daly TV show band) and he had met bassist Robin Everhart playing at a benefit concert at Isaac Hayes house for Hurricane Katrina in Long Beach. The union of Holiday, Buchanan, Everhart and Miley led to the formation of Rival Sons.
As a singer-songwriter Buchanan was skeptical about joining a rock and roll band but after seeing the reception to the band's debut album Before the Fire (2009) produced by Dave Cobb, Buchanan committed to Rival Sons full-time. Jack Rivera of The Huffington Post declared them "A rock band to watch" in November 2009.[2] Following this acclaim, they were invited to perform as a supporting act for AC/DC, Alice Cooper and Kid Rock shows.[3] During this time, Rival Sons also performed on the race track during a televised show of the Indianapolis 500.[4]
EP, signing and worldwide release of second album Pressure & Time (2010–2011)[edit]
After the success of Before the Fire, the band recorded a self-titled EP (independently released) in 2010, which caught the attention of Earache Records founder Digby Pearson and the band was offered a record deal in November 2010. The signing led to the band immediately recording the album Pressure & Time on the Earache label in early 2011. Their self-titled EP was re-released digitally by Earache Records in February 2011, from which their debut European single, "Torture", was taken.[5]
Rival Sons played at Gene Simmons' "Aces & Angels" Super Bowl party on February 2, 2011,[6] before making their European debut appearance at Camden Barfly on February 12, 2011, for the HMV Next Big Thing. The band Vintage Trouble supported their act and the show sold out in advance,[7] which started a nearly unbroken string of European sell-out shows.[8] In March 2011 a string of shows at Canadian Music Week, SXSW and the House of Blues was announced.[9]
Rival Sons released Pressure & Time in June 2011. It reached number one on Amazon's Hard Rock best sellers and nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100.[10][11]
Storm Thorgerson, who had worked with bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Genesis, created the cover art for the album voluntarily.[12][13] Thorgerson liked Rival Sons, saying about the cover art:
Artistry[edit]
Songwriting and recording process[edit]
Rival Sons' early albums, including Pressure & Time, were written and recorded in the studio in an intense period of creativity. Speaking about the sophomore album that was written and recorded in 20 days, with producer Dave Cobb, guitarist Scott Holiday said, "This is just the simplest way to not cheat ourselves or the listener, rock and roll can't be over-thought, and if it is, it loses its immediacy and instinct...it needs to be a knife fight, not a knife dance."[35]
Rival Sons have recorded regularly, releasing seven records in ten years. "Opting to keep the sound intact and very accurate as to deliver to the listener exactly what was happening in the room when we put it down" – Holiday, talking about the album Great Western Valkyrie.[36][37]
The band has a long-standing, friendly and professional relationship with Grammy award-winning music producer Cobb, who has worked on all the band's albums and is often referred to as another member of the band. He is interested in simplicity in the recording and with the sound and vitality of real musicians in a room.[38] Cobb encourages and captures the vocal punch of the band's mainman, Jay Buchanan. "He's unbelievable, a one-take guy — done. It's such a pleasure, because then you can get wild with things. You can experiment when it doesn't take long for the singer to do his thing."[38]
Rival Sons recording process changed for their major label debut Feral Roots, for the first time writing and recording over a process of months. Jay Buchanan stated that "You need to shift and constantly find new soil" within the creative process, taking eight months to write and record the Grammy nominated album instead of all their previous work which took less than six weeks.[39]
Style and influences[edit]
Rival Sons are often compared to sounds of the 1970s yet they cite Prince, D'Angelo and The Roots as influences alongside Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.[40] Jay has listed artists from Joni Mitchell to Sly and the Family Stone amongst his influences, often stating Van Morrison as one of his heroes. "I can't overstate his influence on me as a writer and vocalist" – Louder Sound.[41]
The band are often cited for the sartorial style as well as their musical style, with Scott Holiday known for working with tailor Ray Brown and the band often wearing boots by UK bootmaker Jeffery West. Scott Holiday is known for his slim-line tailored suits, moustache and sunglasses, Jay Buchanan's style is unpredictable including wearing flowers in his hair,[42] flowing floral shirts and tight leather suits.[43]