New Orleans based blues rockers Old Riley & The Water play lowdown dirty 12-bar stuff. Their Biting Through EP is a summary of The Band trying to sound like The Stones in their Exile on Main St. phase. Plenty of good-natured trouble, captured on the fly like they are burning midnight oil on a cramped stage in the back a crowded bar. Main man Sean Riley like to muffle and distort his vocals, a smart move to draw attention to his vocals making the audience hanging on each word.
With a funky rhythm section playing catch Biting Through is an optimistic album, with the incurable American plea to believe in the power of self-inflicted change for the better. This naivety can a bit much for folks on the other side of the big pond, but there is nothing with music that can supersede everyday worries.
Old Riley & The Water:
Sean Riley: guitar, vocals
Ray Micarelli: drums
Andrew Landry: bass
Joshua Cook: guitar and vocals on all tracks, tamborine on most
Scott Craver: harmonica on tracks 1, 3, 4, and 5
Biting Through is a self-released album. Buy it their website.
Tracks:- Howlin' For My Darlin'
- Blues Walking
- Kind-Hearted Woman
- Try And Understand
- Biting Through
- Trouble
- Power To Change
- 12/21 30°x 90° Club, New Orleans, LA
- 12/24 House of Blues, New Orleans New Orleans, LA
- 12/29 House of Blues, New Orleans New Orleans, LA
- 12/31 House of Blues, New Orleans New Orleans, LA
- 01/07 Blues Monday, New Orleans, LA
- 01/14 House of Blues, New Orleans New Orleans, LA
- 01/18 30°x 90° Club, New Orleans, LA
