British husband and wife blues rock duo When Rivers Meet have announced a special warm-up concert at the Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds on Saturday December 18, 2021.
The concert will showcase When Rivers Meet’s new five-piece line-up that will perform on the band’s first-ever nationwide UK headline tour from April 21 until May 28, 2022. Tickets for their April and May 2022 UK tour are available from The Gig Cartel and See Tickets.
The Hunter Club warm-up concert will also be the first time the band will perform tracks from their upcoming sophomore album Saving Grace, released by One Road Records on November 19. You can pre-order the album from shop.whenriversmeet.co.uk.
Saving Grace follows hot on the heels from the band’s critically acclaimed debut album We Fly Free, which was released in November 2020, and their previous two EPs, The Uprising and Innocence of Youth. The past year has been a non-stop thrill-ride for When Rivers Meet, who are Grace Bond (lead vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (guitar, vocals).
The band just finished touring the UK in October 2021 as King King’s special guest, and received rave reviews and incredible fan support.
When Rivers Meet set a record first in May 2021, by becoming the first-ever artist or band to win four awards at the UK Blues Awards:
- Blues Band of the Year – When Rivers Meet
- Blues Album of the Year – When Rivers Meet
- Emerging Blues Artist of the Year – When Rivers Meet
- Most Inspirational Online Performance of the Year – When Rivers Meet
They were also voted “Best New Band” by the listeners of Planet Rock at the radio station’s “The Rocks” Awards.
With their highly anticipated sophomore album Saving Grace, When Rivers Meet have set out to produce a blues rock album with a more upbeat, punchy, and exciting sound.
“We were very conscious that our debut album We Fly Free was a step up in production from our two EP releases previously The Uprising EP and Innocence of Youth,” says Grace. “We also wanted to keep a live, authentic vibe to the new album to retain the energetic feel in the music.”
Says Aaron, “We wanted the album to have more of an upbeat rock feel. We knew exactly what we wanted before we set off to record Saving Grace. We set our expectations high. We’re so pleased with the result and just hope everyone else loves it as much as we do!”
As with their debut album, We Fly Free, a lot of care and attention given to the detail, not only went into the song-writing, but also went into the production on each track, and telling a story from start to finish.
“Although we wanted to do something different from our previous work, we still wanted all the same elements that make our music distinctive and recognisable as When Rivers Meet,” says Grace.
As with their previous album and two EPs, the new album Saving Grace was recorded at the Boathouse in Suffolk with producer and engineer, Adam Bowers.
“He just gets everything we do and want,” says Grace. “As Adam says, ‘Bring me a drawing, and I will colour it in’, which is a great analogy of how we work together.”
The new album is mastered by Mike Curtis. Says Aaron, “the mastering is always the most exciting part of the process. We always look forward to receiving the mastered tracks from Mike.”
As with all their previous recordings, Grace, Aaron, and producer Adam have massive input with instrumentation. Aaron plays guitar and sings vocals, Grace sings vocals, plays mandolin and fiddle, while Adam plays bass, drums, and keyboard and pretty much anything else that Grace and Aaron need added including trumpet on specific songs.
“It’s a case of going into the studio with a song,” reflects Grace. “Aaron will play it on guitar, I’ll lay down the vocals, whilst Adam adds the drums. We start to get a feel as to what the song is and what it means, it then grows from there into the direction we think it should go.”
Continues Grace, “Sometimes it can take a while before we get the right feel for example the drums or the tone of the song. But we always have a clear plan for each song going into the studio and a good idea on the feel that we want to create. Our ethos is that we keep it sounding authentic, whether that be vocals, instrumentation, or any effects. It’s always got to sound organic and real.”
After the success of their debut album, We Fly Free, how does the sophomore album Saving Grace differ?
“Saving Grace has a more upbeat rock feeling than We Fly Free,” says Aaron. “We were very conscious when we started to record this album that’s the direction that we wanted to move in, and it was exactly the kind of result that wanted to achieve.”
Continues Aaron, “As well as being inspired by classic blues including John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, we also draw a lot of influence from classic rock bands that include Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Cream, and Free. To emulate some of the feel or tone of these legendary blues pioneers and seminal rock bands is something that we strive to do, and hopefully people will hear that in our music and relate to it.”
When Rivers Meet’s passion for blues rock shows through with an underpinning of traditional blues and classic rock. The duo make a concerted effort to keep to a genuine, gritty sound using authentic techniques, including tube tape echo and reverb chambers, which have created a live sound that keeps a truly vintage vibe that not only has energy but is also a true representation of the ever evolving sound this duo produces.
When Rivers Meet show great delight that a Hammond organ has been introduced into some of the tracks on this album. This classic blues rock feel will transport you back in time while also inducing a contemporary When Rivers Meet twist.
When Rivers Meet will be at the Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds for a Warm-Up Concert on Saturday 18th December 2021. Tickets available from: We Got Tickets.
WHEN RIVERS MEET – APRIL/MAY 2022 HEADLINE TOUR
With special guest: Troy Redfern
- Sheffield Greystones – Thursday April 21
- Bath Komedia – Friday April 22
- Southampton 1865 – Saturday April 23
- >>> Colchester Arts Centre – Friday April 29
- Newbury Arlington Arts – Saturday April 30
- Leeds Brudenell Social Club – Thursday May 5
- Newcastle Cluny – Friday May 6
- Glasgow Òran Mór – Saturday May 7
- London Garage – Thursday May 12
- Birmingham The Asylum – Friday May 13
- >>> Norwich Waterfront – Saturday May 14
- Manchester Deaf Institute – Thursday May 19
- Bristol Exchange – Friday May 20
- Leek Foxlow Arts – Saturday May 21
- Shoreham Ropetackle – Thursday May 26
- Nottingham The Bodega – Friday May 27
- Edinburgh Blues Club, The Voodoo Rooms – Saturday May 28
Tickets available from The Gig Cartel, See Tickets and Planet Rock Tickets.
For more information visit www.whenriversmeet.co.uk.
