The River Valley Band Return To The Fold
What better way to ease yourself into a cold and uncertain new year than by spending a night lost in the roaring grooves of one of Kilkenny’s most promising acts for 2009, The River Valley Band.
Saturday night January 17th sees the band kicking off their 2009 account with a gig in The Bridgebrook Arms out in Thomastown and if 2008 form is anything to go by, it’s one that you’ll miss at your peril. Very rarely has an up and coming Kilkenny band being greeted with such overwhelming critical praise and the roar of packed out venues.
For those of you who don’t know The River Valley Band, they are Kilkenny’s finest-bred south Americano gunslingers. Their music is a myriad of influences from the rock, folk, and blues era of the 60’s and 70’s, evoking the finely polished 70’s rock Americana of The Band, Bob Dylan and JJ Cale. This is mixed through with the ferocious southern Irish wit and storytelling of their lyrics, tight, powerful playing and an electric stage presence that ignite the fires that will burn your barn. Their names are Daniel Coady, Conor Brett, Liam Teehan, Eoghan Leadbetter and David Thompson.
On their way to bigger and better times, this may be your first and last opportunity to catch the live show as close to the wire as possible and soak up the toe-tapping vibes (made sharper with the odd chilled beverage) before they’re whisked away to the bigger stage. With a succession of memorable gigs in Kilkenny throughout the past year they’ve made their reputation as the live act to catch and have sent scores of danced out revelers out onto the Kilkenny streets soaked in sweat.
They first made an impression during last years Rhythm and Roots Festival with a succession of storming gigs in Egan’s and Kytelers. They’ve also filled both the front and back of Ryans, with a jam-packed June 2008 stormer in the back room and a front of house headline slot during the Rockfall Festival in October. They’ve also branched out to the nation’s capital, most notably with a support slot to The Last Tycoons in Dublin’s Crawdaddy. They just won the talent prize in the recent Thomastown’s Got Talent Competition and have a sprint in Dublin in the coming months playing with N.C. Lawlor and The Coronas, to name but two. Their debut offering Drunk In The Wine Cellar is just about to go into the studio with the esteemed Davy Holland producing and it will rock into the light of day in the early months of summer.
Before they play you can hear the infectious sounds of Thomastown’s own T-Town Bottlestoppers. This three piece have smashed the moulds of genre and brought all the best bits together in a toe-tappingly tasty trifle of song. You just can’t have one course without the other. The Bridgebrook Arms, also known as Reilly’s, has recently been kitted out with a new stage and sound system and what better way to introduce yourself to this brand spanking new fit up than by catching a ferocious one two of Kilkenny’s finest. Admission is a recession discounted 5euro, so bring your dancing shoes and be there for 8, post meridian.
For a selection of tracks and more see www.myspace.com/therivervalleyband and www.myspace.com/ttownbottlestoppers.
