Since last December and their debut album, this husband and wife duo had an almost unbelievable year, as they have stormed the British Blues-rooted music scene, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
They’ve gained a huge fan base, calling themselves The Rapids, whose support has helped them achieve a record-breaking four wins at the UK Blues Awards. Fan power also saw them being awarded the Best New Band in the listener-voted awards presented by Planet Rock. Their new album 'Saving Grace’ is on its way and there's a packed tour schedule on the horizon.
It's been a phenomenal year for Aaron and Grace, and as live music returns it’s all about getting ready for the next tour. Aaron explains: “We’ve done six gigs since lockdown and next is the King King tour, which we’re really looking forward to.”
When the pandemic started, like other bands, they had their tour cancelled and the future became uncertain. But, undeterred the duo quickly adapted to the circumstances by broadcasting live streams on their Facebook page. This proved to be very popular with their fans, hundreds of whom tuned in to watch the duo play.
It’s a format that has helped them reach a far larger fan base. Location is no object and they’ve reached fans from across the globe through those Facebook shows. That’s why live streaming could be here to stay, with the duo considering how it can sit alongside in-person events.
The Rapids are certainly enthusiastic supporters of the band. That support was recently rewarded with the opportunity to attend a listening party for the new album. Bringing those fans together brought home how things had progressed for the pair in the past year. Grace smiles as she remembers that moment, “It was literally packed out. To have a room full of people with our t-shirts on was amazing. There were people from the USA, Ireland, England and Scotland."
Success at the UK Blues Awards mean so much to them. Just being nominated felt like a huge recognition, but to take home so many awards was a real highlight for a band which had only released two EP’s at the time.
They love being together and playing, sharing a love of similar music. Performance is key to the success of their career.
Aaron's favourite track from this new album is ’Never Coming Home’ - "it's got that vintage 70s style”. Grace likes ‘He’ll Drive You Crazy' the best The recording process was intense and similar to their debut. They like the organic feel of natural reverb in the room. Grace says, "It's crazy what minimal parts there are on the record, one bass guitar and drums sometimes. We do try and keep production minimal."
With a husband and wife musical team it might seem like songwriting is a natural extension of their partnership. However, they are no good sitting in the room together to write, they would just argue apparently!
For Aaron and Grace songwriting starts with a melody idea and line or a riff. The idea for a song is mutually agreed upon and then adapted accordingly.
"We could have written more bangers, but wanted the tempo to slow in parts." said Aaron. This is especially noticeable on the track ‘Talking In My Sleep’ which brings a slower element to the album.
As we chat about ‘Saving Grace’ it’s clear to me that they are very pleased with the result. They're committed to delivering quality, having been ruthless when writing the songs - if it doesn't work or add something specific to the album, they scrap it and move on to something better. ‘Shoot The Breeze' was written purely to create an iconic twelve-bar blues song. “We love the repetition of blues and having something you can hang on to, we love riffs and can play around with this when we’re playing live” Grace recalls.
Some songs on the new album were co-written with Adam, their producer, a move that took them out of their comfort zone.
While the new elements bring an interesting perspective to the album, John Lee Hooker’s repetitive riffs are still a significant influence on the guitar sound for the band. Listening I could also hear the influence of Rich Del-Grosso's blues mandolin style, and Bluegrass players come through in Grace’s violin playing. As well as the sound, the band has a particular image which remains important to them.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.