Rival Sons is an American rock band from Long Beach, California. Rival Sons consists of Jay Buchanan (lead vocals, harmonica), Scott Holiday (guitar, backing vocals), Mike Miley (drums) and Dave Beste (bass). Formed in 2009 they have released six albums and one EP. The band is known for their extensive touring and their acclaimed album, Pressure & Time.
Rival Sons try to record and release an album per year and believe writing and recording all material together in a studio within a month leads to a more fruitful creation. The live recording process they use is considered a key to their specific sound. Jay Buchanan had previously recorded as a solo artist and Rival Sons was the first rock band he had performed with. Initially skeptical Buchanan considered the band a side project. Yet, Buchanan was impressed by the reaction and success the new band received with their debut album 2009’s Before the Fire and committed full-time. Following this new found acclaim Rival Sons was invited to perform as a supporting act for AC/DC and Alice Cooper.
The success of Before the Fire led to the band recording their most notable album 2011’s Pressure & Time. The album reached number one on Amazon’s Hard Rock best sellers and nineteen on Billboard’s Hot 100. Storm Thorgerson who had created album covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Genesis did the cover art Pro bono due to his admiration for the band. In 2012, Pressure & Time was voted number two album of the year and the band named “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” by Classic Rock Magazine. Rival Sons released their third album 2012’s Head Down to critical acclaim. The band went on to complete another sold out European tour and in 2013 supported Sammy Hagar on tour across America.
In July 2016 Rival Sons released their fifth album Hollow Bones. After the recording they toured with Deep Purple on their European tour. Throughout 2016 and into early 2017 they toured as main supporting act on the entirety of Black Sabbath’s final tour. In 2019 Rival Sons released their sixth album Feral Roots. It was preceded by the single “Do Your Worst,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The album received nominations for two awards at the 2020 Grammy Awards, one for Best Rock Album and the other for Best Rock Performance for the song “Too Bad.” It also won the 2019 Metal Storm Award for Best Hard Rock Album.
On May 9, 2019, the band appeared on the Late Late Show with James Corden, performing “Too Bad”. In Fall 2019, the band capitalized on the success of Feral Roots and embarked on a co-headline tour with Stone Temple Pilots across North America. On October 11, 2019, Rival Sons performed a stripped-down version of “Do Your Worst” at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
On October 14, 2022, the band released a single titled “Nobody Wants to Die”; a music video was also released. Three more singles were released, in 2023, Rapture, Bird in the Hand, and Guillotine. On May 23, 2023, it was announced that Todd Ögren was leaving the band; whether this is permanent is currently not known. The band’s seventh album, Darkfighter, was released on June 2, 2023 on CD, streaming and on vinyl. Only two months later, a single for the second album, Lightbringer was released, Sweet Life. Mercy was also released soon after. On October 20, 2023, Lightbringer was released, as six-track album with their longest track to date, Darkfighter ahead of Manifest Destiny Pt.1 and Destination on Course.
The Darkfighter tour began in America, but moved to Europe in October. Due to Ögren’s departure as well as difficult vocals for Jay Buchanan in songs such as Mirrors or Darkfighter, some tracks were performed live in an alternate manner, such as using transpositions or substitute instruments. In the early stages of the Darkfighter tour, Buchanan used a horizontal strummer for songs such as Guillotine or Horses Breath.
Reference – https://www.rivalsons.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rival_Sons
Rival Sons discography
Before the Fire (2009)
Pressure & Time (2011)
Head Down (2012)
Great Western Valkyrie (2014)
Hollow Bones (2016)
Feral Roots (2019)
Darkfighter (2023)
Lightbringer(2023)
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays the Rival Sons. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
Check out Rival Sons performing “Do Your Worst.”