A Fun Time With Some Ramblers
Bruce Von Stiers
Mellow yet not too much and a bit alt pop rock. That's how I'd describe the music of The Burning River Ramblers. The band hails from the Cleveland , Ohio area. The band was listed as one of the “Top 25 bands to watch” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The band recently released a self titled album that is getting a lot of good press and praise from fans. As the band plays to a lot of college age crowds, they seem to get a lot of comparisons to Jack Johnson-ish alt pop style of music.
The members of the band are Conor Standish, Chris Rush, Chris Walling, Zach Catanta and Jesse Catanta. Conor does the lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar. Rush plays the bass and Walling, the third Chris, is on harmonica. Zach is a utility player, doing vocals along with playing lead guitar and keys. Jesse is the drummer and does some vocals.
See Ya Soon is first up. The song has a cool, light guitar groove that sets the tone for the album right away. You can't help but moving around a bit listening to this one.
Redwood is the second song. It is kind of a thought provoking song that is a tribute to a friend who committed suicide. The band is teaming up with the Suicide Prevention Education Alliance to help educate and inform people about suicide. Apparently, suicide is the number two cause of death of young people in Ohio . For every sale of the song on iTunes, the band will donate 99 cents to this cause. They are also contributing part of the proceeds from the entire album.
Russian Roulette has a mellow and laid back alt pop sound.
Drink Now is my second favorite song on the album. It has some cool, head bopping music and is plain fun to listen to.
Two Guns finds the band slipping on over to a classic folk country styling. Kind of silly, it brought a forth a wide smile. Just when I thought the song was going full tilt folk it went into a reggae kind of mode, only to jump right back into a classic country mode. It really is my favorite song on the album if only for the strange, fun and slightly ridiculous melding or musical styles.
On The Loose has an almost upbeat Dylanesque sound to it.
Carousel is an endearing love lost ballad. The song has some pretty terrific harmonica in it.
Stranger On The Street made me think of Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer for its mellow yet almost haunting music.
Destination Ohio is a laid back alt rock song.
Singer Lawyer Man is a fun, head bopping tune about an obscure but effective lawyer. This one is the last song on the album and also has great harmonica.
The Burning River Ramblers are indeed a unique bunch of fellas. Their music is alt pop but has bits and pieces of a few other styles. It's kind of hard to put these guys into a box. So I won't try. Let's just say that their music is fun and thoroughly enjoyable.
You can find out more about the band and their music at www.reverbnation.com/theburningriverramblers
© 2012 Bruce E Von Stiers