Randy Lee Riviere’s music can certainly be described as blues. It could also be described as blues rock, rock, country rock, country, roots/Americana and more. “It’s all music to me,” Riviere explains. “Songs come to me; I don’t go looking for them. Since I’ve been working with Tom Hambridge, I’ve been leaning more towards blues. He’s having a big influence on me. We’re doing co-writing and having fun. In addition to being a great producer and drummer, he is a special song writer. I don’t get into all the awards and all the recognition he certainly has received; I don’t let anyone try to prove anything based on their authority. But through and through our work I have been stung by his talents. Tom’s songwriting with me has usually been him dropping little lines into ideas that just work. In very clever ways Very clever. He has an interesting mind.”
Randy’s new album, Farmhand Blues, is another testament to all the different things that fly through his head. As you cruise through the fifteen tunes on this album you’ll hear lots of blues and blues rock tunes sprinkled with the other genres mentioned above.
The opening tune “Downtown” is an up tempo ‘fun’ blues rocker that should get folks off their butts and onto the dance floor! It’s about this mountain man that comes out of the woods with a stack of songs and goes “Downtown where the music sounds so fine and I can show off some of mine.” Once you get to know Randy, you’ll know exactly who this tune is about.
The second song on the album “Big On A Bender” tracks this title pretty tight. The opening verse for example: “Ever get your head kicked? Ever felt that night stick? Ever take your best shot in the greasy halls of a bike shop? Ever work a nail jammer? Ever throw a rock hammer? Ever need a piss jar handcuffed in the backseat of a cop car? I feel a bender coming down” This is a gritty driving blues rock song that will have your head bobbing hard.
Then moving down the set there’s “Bird Watching.” “They got colors red and blue.
Orange and white too. But ain’t showing off for you. There’s many more than a few. When they get me home and I’ll finally be alone, I’m goin’ bird watching.” Comes as no surprise that Randy is a wildlife biologist. Tom, Randy, and the crew put together this dreamy kaleidoscope of sound.
southern charm. During “Midnight” he recounts a late-night encounter with a mystery lady while surrounded by chiming guitars, then sums up his paranoid pipe dream in one word on the acid rocker “Cynical.” Riviere shifts to a more introspective vibe for the piano driven “If I Were King” that features a soaring slide guitar solo. The expansive “Mother Lee,” runs the emotional and music gamut with big swirling sounds.
“December 1980” recalls the mournful day John Lennon was assassinated over a greasy blues shuffle. The tender ballad “You Ain’t No Loving Woman,” speaks of the deep sadness of heartbreak. Like a real rock ‘n’ roll cowboy Riviere delivers a love song about his horse and best friend “Pecos,” then revels about the view from the bottom on the rockin’ “On My Way On Down.” The album closer, “Dovetail Joints,” is a bittersweet tribute to old fashioned hard work and regular folks.
As you listen to the last 20 or so years of his work - through the Mad Buffalo era spanning four albums: “A Good Bad Road”, “Fool Stand”, “Wilderness”, and “Red and Blue”, then onto his solo Randy Lee Riviere work with his 2019 album “Wyoming”, 2021 record “Blues Sky”, 2024 project “Concrete Blues”, and now “Farmhand Blues” - you’ll hear all these musical gyrations previously mentioned.
Over the years, Randy has been blessed with being able to work with some of the very best producers and musicians in the business. “Yeah, I’ve been really lucky to fall in with brilliant people,” Riviere says. “They made these projects really shine in my view, and I’ve learned so much from them.”
WEBSITE & SOCIALS
- OS: www.randyleeriviere.com
- FB: www.facebook.com/randyleeriviere
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