River Whyless is excited to announce they will be releasing a new album, Kindness, A Rebel, on June 8, 2018 via Roll Call Records. Today they share a new single off the album, “Born In The Right Country,” which takes aim at class divides & the struggle to get ahead in America. The track was penned by the band’s Ryan O’Keefe and he notes, “At its core, Born in the Right Country is about innate luck. Cosmic luck, that of an individual, born into a country or society which accepts them as that unique individual. Born in the Right Country speaks both through the eyes of our president and the narrator. In the song, vanity seems to trickle down much more freely than money and you can see it take root in the middle and lower classes as we strive to live like the upper. The dominant class is built on the idea that anyone can, and should become like them. We were raised to call this the American Dream. It’s imperative to the success of the upper class that the American Dream stays as it is, a dream. Meanwhile, the reality persists, which is that the vast majority of people stay in the class to which they were born. Sure, there are people that break through, in our country especially, but the rich generally stay rich and the poor generally stay poor.”
River Whyless are no strangers to the road and 2018 will see them touring extensively in support of Kindness, A Rebel. The band currently has shows confirmed for the summer including a June 13 show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and one at the Moroccan Lounge on August 2 in Los Angeles. All current dates are listed below with more to be announced soon.
With Kindness, A Rebel, River Whyless (Daniel Shearin, Alex McWalters, Halli Anderson, and Ryan O’Keefe) reached a necessary and collective understanding. Namely: this band is their lifeblood, their family and their love. To that end, the four 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.
“It was a feeling of openness and hope and acceptance,” says 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.
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. The illuminating experience proved to River Whyless that even after many years together they were still making new creative discoveries.
The album’s beginnings map to a secluded cabin outside Boone, North Carolina where for several days they began brainstorming ideas for their new LP. They were so focused, in fact, that all the musicians were loathe to return to their everyday lives. “We dragged our feet to get there and then we dragged our feet to leave,” says Anderson.
What also became apparent during this getaway was that River Whyless was eager to stretch the boundaries of what constituted their sound. Whereas earlier albums centered on a largely beatific brand of heartfelt folk music, with encouragement from Butler, the band began to experiment with a more aggressive and innovative sonic palate. This musical diversity is a direct reflection of each band member bringing his or her distinct flavor to the fold. Though, as Anderson admits, the band has never been more cohesive in its creative vision.
Allowing their creative union to continue guiding them, they insist, remains their only constant. “It feels like you’re on a journey with your family,” McWalters says of the satisfaction of being in a band like River Whyless. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
River Whyless On Tour
4/13/18 – Nelsonville, OH – Bob Boilen presents @ Stuart’s Opera House
4/14/18 – Hendersonville, NC – Oskar Blues’ Loaded Up & Truckin
6/1/18 – Charlotte, NC – Live on the Green at First Ward Park
6/3/18 – Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival
6/7/18 – Roanoke, VA – Martin’s Downtown
6/9/18 – Canton, NC – Cold Mountain Festival
6/12/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
6/13/18 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
6/15/18 – Fall River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts
6/16/18 – Allston, MA – Great Scott
6/17/18 – Croton-on-Hudson, NY – Pete Seeger’s Clearwater Revival
6/19/18 – Buffalo, NY – 9th Ward at Babeville
6/21/18 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
6/22/18 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
6/23/18 – Viroqua, WI – Pierce Hill Performing Arts
6/25/18 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
6/27/18 – Vail, CO – Vail Bluegrass Series
6/28/18 – Pueblo, CO – Brues Alehouse Brewing Company
8/2/18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Moroccan Lounge
8/3/18 – Anaheim, CA – The Parish @ House of Blues
8/4/18 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
8/11/18 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
8/12/18 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
8/18/18 – Lyons, CO – Rocky Mountain Folks Fest
More tour dates to be announced soon.
