River Bank (Brad Paisley song)
"River Bank" is a song recorded by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It is the lead single from his tenth studio album, Moonshine in the Trunk. He co-wrote the song with Kelley Lovelace and co-produced it with Luke Wooten. A remix of the song featuring country rapper Colt Ford was released in July 2014.[3][4]
For other uses, see Riverbank."River Bank"
April 14, 2014
- 2:59 (original)
- 3:23 (remix)
- Brad Paisley
- Kelley Lovelace[1]
- Brad Paisley
- Luke Wooten[2]
Background[edit]
The song is about a man and woman who have fun on a river in the summertime. Paisley told The Tennessean that the song idea come from his own upbringing near the Ohio River: "My best memories with my grandfather are on that body of water, and my dad, and learning to ski. It's kind of like a back-to-basics song, which is really an inner tube and a boat and you've got a theme park."[2]
Paisley debuted the song at the 2014 Academy of Country Music telecast on April 6.[1] He also performed the song during the third episode of ABC's Rising Star.
Critical reception[edit]
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard called River Bank "a slice of summer time fun" and added that "the production is edgy with a cool vibe".[5] Giving it 2.5 stars out of 4, Michelangelo Matos of the New York Post said that "It's appealingly jaunty, but Paisley has done this better."[6] Rolling Stone rated it 3 out of 5 stars: "This laid-back ode to inner tubes and bikinis, from an album due later this year, comes with a bendy Stones-steeped riff and a clever chorus that's like ad copy for low-budget fun.…If there must be bro-country, let it be this genial."[7] Mikael Wood of The Los Angeles Times was less favorable, saying that "the tune is either a razor-sharp send-up of bro-country cliché — or a pathetic embodiment of the same from a songwriter capable of far, far more."[8]
Music video[edit]
The music video was directed by Scott Scovill and premiered in May 2014.[9] It stars Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel.[10]