Good blues music is meant to grab you by the gullet and
make you feel whatever the singer and/or the band is
looking to get out at that moment. Joy, sorrow, even
sheer misery…it all becomes your shared experience
in their song. And The Ria Reece Band takes this very
seriously with their self-titled debut album. Hailing from
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the quartet has put their
own stamp on the music scene up north in grand style.
They’ve established themselves as one of Montreal’s
best bands, having been invited to play at the famous
Quebec Summer Festival this past July along with getting
a chance to be heard on various radio stations throughout
Quebec and Ontario.
Ria Reece has a compelling voice, throaty with a hint
of choral grace but enough soulful grit to make the
song speak to you fluently. It flirts well with the smooth
guitar work by Andre Chevarie. Add in good bass by
Sylvain Lamothe and precise drumming by Martin
Laporte and you’ve got a great blues sound that draws
from the traditional but has a fresh tone. ‘Tell Mama’
displays this in raucous fashion, with Ria’s vocals
wrapped in Andre’s buzzing guitar work. Laporte’s
drums provide great foundation for ‘Whisper’, a soft,
lilting love ballad that lets you settle into its melancholy.
‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ is another standout piece of real
low-down blues, with Ria scraping the emotion from
every note in her vocals. This album should fit in well
with wandering nights, easy times with a jukebox
and hearts as full as the ears of this soul that Ria
Reece and her band offer up. Their album is available
now via iTunes.
http://www.riareeceband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theriareeceband
https://twitter.com/Riareeceband