Throughout rock history, let’s face it, us Americans are usually a little late to the game. The Beatles cut their teeth in Germany (for better or worse), Jimi Hendrix didn’t stay here but went to London where he became a star and more recently, Kings of Leon didn’t rise to prominence in their native Tennessee, but instead became the darlings of Europe before exploding in 2009 Stateside with “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody.” This time, Long Beach, Calif.-based rockers Rival Sonshave caught on globally, yet have made nary a dent here. But that’s about to change.
When guitarist Scott Holiday summoned Robin Everhart and Michael Miley to fill out the rhythm section of his new outfit, they were missing one key obvious element: a singer. Miley went to his buddy, Jay Buchanan, who was a pretty accomplished singer/songwriter in Southern California, and asked him if he’d like to join the new outfit. Though he never sang hard rock or blues, (after all, he was a singer/songwriter), Buchanan agreed to jump in, but figured that the band would be a side project to his semi-successful solo career.
Needless to say, Buchanan got a bit more than he bargained for with. There’s was an immediate, unspoken connection between the musicians and the brand of blues-fused, hard rock (think a very, very close resemblance to Led Zeppelin in the best possible way along with a splash of the Black Crowes while sounding original) that was emanating from the quartet was being praised by many…although they weren’t in the band’s country. Though Rival Sons managed to play events like the Indy 500 and be lauded by the Huffington Post as one of five bands to watch at CMJ, they flew under the radar in the U.S., yet in Europe, they were on the cusp of becoming stars.
After self-releasing both an album and EP, they started garnering a following in Europe. In 2010, the band inked a deal with Earache Records, a heavy metal label based in Nottingham, UK and New York City, which coincided with their rise to prominence in England. Soon thereafter, they were playing at some of the biggest shows on that side of the world, including festivals like Sonisphere, T in the Park, Rock Werchter and Arras.
The band released their upcoming album, Head Down, in Europe this past August to accolades, but in two weeks time, it will be seeing the light of the day here the U.S. They’ll be playing shows along the West Coast along with a tour of Canada. Sometimes it takes Americans a little bit longer to catch onto great music, just look above at those examples, and remember, how many albums did it take for the Black Keys to catch on? Taking all the elements that made classic rock, well, classic in the first place, don’t be surprised to hear Rival Sons on your radios soon, but all over the place in the foreseeable future.
