The family Dry the River could not have been built from five more diverse sons. From singer-songwriter Peter Liddle, drawing narrative inspiration from university studies in Medicine and Anthropology, to once homeless punk-rock drummer Jon Warren and classically trained William Harvey, the band grew from the haphazard seeds of varied personal and musical upbringings.
Thus, whilst Liddle rifles through a musical and literary heritage which includes the works of...
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The family Dry the River could not have been built from five more diverse sons. From singer-songwriter Peter Liddle, drawing narrative inspiration from university studies in Medicine and Anthropology, to once homeless punk-rock drummer Jon Warren and classically trained William Harvey, the band grew from the haphazard seeds of varied personal and musical upbringings.
Thus, whilst Liddle rifles through a musical and literary heritage which includes the works of Ted Hughes and Milan Kundera and artists such as Leonard Cohen and Suzanne Vega, guitarist Matthew Taylor introduces the angular hum of Southern rock, blues and country records played to him in his youth, accompanied by childhood friends Jon Warren and Scott Miller, a rhythm section who draw heavily on 70s prog rock and post-punk.
Each song is the offspring of this unlikely marriage: a personal tale of coming-to-terms, wrapped in gospel and rock guitars and driven by inventive, bold percussion. Most of all, the deep involvement of all members gives birth to a live show which is both intense and honest; a band who play with their hearts on their sleeves.
Since mid 2009, Dry the River have lived and worked in their shared home in Stratford, east London. Their self-released CD only EP “The Chambers & The Valves” came out in June that year and helped ignite a heavy schedule of shows with acts including Hjaltalin, Port O Brien, Bowerbirds, Johnny Flynn, Paloma Faith, Plan B and The Magic Numbers.
The band then had a busy 2010 festival season playing Glastonbury (BBC Introducing), Big Chill and Standon Calling, amongst others and have now played over 100 UK shows the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland, including 3 London sell out shows. They have also made their first steps into Europe with shows in France, The Netherlands and Belgium this spring.
After over 165,000 plays on their watchlistentell YouTube acoustic clip, their debut single 'New Ceremony' will be released on Transgressive (Foals, Mystery Jets, Pulled Apart by Horses) on March 7th. Produced by James Kenosha, 'New Ceremony' will be available as limited edition 7" (TRANS126) and download, backed with B-side 'Lion's Den'. Online preorders of the 7" have already sold out.
The single, already heavily backed by Radio 1 and XFM, will also be released by several independent labels across Europe - featuring different covers and B-side ‘Dead Heads’ - via Haldern Pop in Germany, Dying Giraffe in the Netherlands, Sleeping Star in Italy and Fullsteam in Finland.
Each release will have an individual sleeve culled from the extraordinary ‘Ruins of Detroit’ series by French photographers marchandmeffre.com
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