- Music
- 07 Dec 18
American outfit River Whyless will perform at The Sound House in Dublin on Friday, 3 May 2019, it's just been announced.
Tickets for the gig being organised by Aiken Promotions will go on sale next Monday at 10am, costing €15.00 inclusive of booking fee.
Six years, two albums and countless gigs after first forming as a band, River Whyless, the North Carolina-bred folk-rock outfit has discovered their evolution is a subtler albeit monumentally important one.
Deep in the throes of writing and recording their new album, Kindness, A Rebel, the four musicians speak about having reached a necessary and collective understanding. Namely: this band is their lifeblood, their family and their love. To that end, with unspoken acceptance, the members of River Whyless, each songwriters in their own right, collectively put aside their respective egos, coalesced around each other’s creative vision, and fully embraced the beauty of their enduring partnership.
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“It was a feeling of openness and hope and acceptance,” says singer-violinist Halli Anderson of the multi-week sessions with producer Paul Butler (Devendra Banhart, Michael Kiwanuka) that resulted in some of River Whyless’ most dynamic, genre-bending and heartfelt material yet.
Happy to announce that @RiverWhyless will be performing at @KilkennyRoots Festival in beautiful Kilkenny, Ireland on May 3-6 2019! https://t.co/ouptDpBIER pic.twitter.com/gvP0EV2fAW
— Paper and Iron (@Paperandiron) November 13, 2018
Creatives regularly waver between honouring their own creation and rallying around larger ideas for the benefit of the group.
But with every member of River Whyless now charting a life outside the band, and also writing on their own, when coming together to record Kindnessit was never more crucial they be open and honest with each other.
To that end, singer-guitarist Ryan O’Keefe remembers an early brainstorm session that saw all four musicians seated in his living room, each passing around their phones to hear rough sketches of songs the others had written.
And while each member acknowledges one of their self-penned songs may not have ended up on the album, working together as a group to land on the best River Whyless songs -- the ones that speak to hope and betrayal, maturation and stalled momentum, the kinds of weighty topics their younger selves could never have taken stock of -- was essential to both create a killer album and, more importantly, move forward as a united band.
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We have a new record! Conceived across the country and born in west Texas, Kindness, A Rebel is our contribution to this volatile social, political and economic environment. It was, all in all, an act of love. We hope it shows.
Head to https://t.co/uiKVsMQ8eF to pre-order! pic.twitter.com/O6olQRsfrn— River Whyless (@RiverWhyless) March 28, 2018