ALBANY—It’s been a long, uncertain road back to action for Rival Sons, since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down concerts for the music industry for the better part of two years, but the Grammy-nominated rock band has been anything but dormant during that time. After some two years of writing and recording via remote, Rival Sons is now back with a new tour and album, Darkfighter, and a second LP release—Lightbringer—slated to drop in October.
With Darkfighter about to be released in the U.S. on Friday, 6/2, Rival Sons—singer Jay Buchanan, guitarist Scott Holiday, bassist Dave Beste and drummer Michael Miley—roll into Albany on Sunday, 6/4, to headline Empire Live, with guests The Record Company and Starcrawler supporting. To get the scoop on the new music and tour, I chatted with Beste from the band’s tour bus, parked outside the nearby Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts, as the group made its way toward Albany.
Brendan Manley: How’s the tour going so far?
Dave Beste: It’s been great. It’s been nice to be back out. I feel like post-COVID, touring seems few and far between compared to how it was before, so it feels good to be out. I know we have a busy year ahead of us, but the shows have been great so far. We’re just outside of Boston tonight, so we’re back in the Northeast for a while. It feels good.
BM: Not to mention, you have a new record, Darkfighter, that’s gonna drop any day now!
DB: This Friday. Yeah, just a couple of days away.
BM: The four new tracks that have already dropped are definitely killer. Can you tell me a little about the rest of the album and what to expect?
DB: We’re excited about this one. We’ve got this record coming out on Friday, then we have another sort of like second half, called Lightbringer, coming out in the fall, so it’s two parts of the same machine. I think there are two or three songs that are still in the lot or unreleased. This has been interesting for us, because the album’s not out yet. We’re touring on it, so we’ve been playing these songs live before anybody’s really heard them. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever done that, but it’s been really fun to get out and play new tunes. We’ve got a lot of songs in our catalog, so it’s always fun to be able to play the new things. But yeah it’s been good. Good response so far and I’m excited to see the difference in the audiences once the album’s actually out and people have heard these songs and it’s not the first time they’re hearing them in person.
BM: What can fans expect for the show? You’re juggling all that material; the back catalog and all the new stuff, too. How have you been handling that so far on the tour?
DB: It’s been good. We’ve done it a few different ways. Right at the top of the tour we just said, ‘You know what? Let’s just play all the new songs.’ I think that was a great idea for us, but maybe not so much for the audience, because it’s hard to go and listen to a bunch of songs you’ve never heard before in a row. So now we’re sort of peppering them in throughout the set and I think it’s better. It just helps the set flow better. But we’re playing 90 percent of the new album throughout the set, and then of course all the older material that people are familiar with and want to hear live.
BM: As for the second release coming out, is there a conceptual tie-in to the first one? Or is it just that you had so much material that you didn’t want to hold it back? Or a bit of both?
DB: It’s a bit of both. There was a lot of material and it was also sort of how we did it, because of COVID. It took us so long to make this album, just recording, so the normal thing that would have taken us no more than a few months ended up taking nearly two and a half years. So over that two and a half years there’s some different elements of the writing and colors of the songs sort of presented themselves, so it made sense to put it out in two different albums. Although technically, depending on who you talk to, one might look at it as one album, because it all was sort of conceived and recorded at the same time, just over a long period. They’re sort of different: sort of light and shade, from Darkfighter to Lightbringer, and so we’ve separated them out that way. Conceptually yes, there’s definitely that.
BM: You mentioned there is that light and dark juxtaposition; would you say that Darkfighter is a heavier, darker record than Lightbringer?
DB: Not necessarily, no. I think sonically you’re gonna get a little bit of both on both albums. We’re excited to see what people think. Having to come out in two different waves like this is nothing we’ve ever done before, so it’s kind of new to us too.
BM: In terms of the production and recording, was it similar to previous efforts, working with producer Dave Cobb and going through that process? Or was there anything different about it this time?
DB: The only thing that would be different is that because of the obvious circumstances there’s a lot of stuff that was tracked remotely and at home by us, which is the first time we’ve ever done that, too. The bulk of it was done at RCA in Nashville and then at Dave’s home studio in Savannah, Georgia. The other issue was that we live all over the place now; we’re spread out pretty well. It’s usually just a little easier to throw things back and forth when we’re dotting I’s and crossing T’s. Really the only difference is just how long it took to make the album, and then the way that we did it that’s definitely different. We’ve never done that before in a remote at home kind of way.
BM: Are you part of the Nashville or L.A. contingent?
DB: I’m in Nashville. I’m the only one left. Jay moved back to L.A. a few years back, so I’m the last one standing in Nashville.
BM: Do you have personal ties to Nashville?
DB: No, I grew up in Nebraska and then moved out to L.A. I was there for a real long time; that’s where I met all these guys. Even before I was in the band, these guys were friends, so that’s how I got the call when it was time for a change. Man, it’s been 10 years now. We moved to Nashville in 2016 and we’ve been loving it. We like it there a lot. It’s a nice change from Southern California.
BM: Regarding the ideas that you brought yourself to the table creatively this time, which are you most excited about, on a personal note?
DB: Again it’s kind of interesting because of how long it took to make the record. When we finally got everything mixed and mastered and we started listening back, it was almost like hearing the album for the first time—almost as a listener—because some of the things we’d recorded two years or longer before. So that was kind of what it was. I’m excited about just having this come out and then having it all make sense. Sometimes when you’re in the studio recording it doesn’t all fit together in your brain yet, until you hear the final product. So this was especially interesting, because of how long it took us to do it. Creatively it’s a little different, like, ‘What did I do two years ago?’ Revisiting those things is different and pretty cool.
BM: What’s also interesting about the band is there are so many different vibes, styles and sounds going on. Everybody in a band brings their own piece of the puzzle; what do you bring stylistically and musically to Rival Sons? What’s the stuff that you grew up with and maybe even still listen to?
DB: I’m kind of the oddball in the band, and maybe Jay a bit too. Scott’s definitely more of the traditional rock and roll fan, growing up listening to that. We all did that as well, but I had this weird period from age 13 to my early 20s where I really only listened to classical, jazz and opera, so I have a lot of strange influences. I played classical guitar for many, many years religiously, so that’s been an interesting element to bring into this band. But of course, when I moved to L.A. I started playing rock and roll right away, so I’ve been doing that for a long time, too. But yeah we all definitely have different influences, but we share a lot of the same ones, too. I think that’s how it works: We have different elements, but we also share a lot of them, so it works well. Everybody brings their own flavor to it.
BM: I love the new album cover, too, on an aesthetic note. Where did that idea come from?
DB: That’s Martin Wittfooth, who’s doing both album covers. He’s done everything for us since Hollow Bones, which was his first album cover. Then he did the Feral Roots cover and then this one and then also the Lightbringer cover. Martin is really a pretty incredible master artist, so we put our faith in him to do it. This time it’s definitely a departure from the other album covers that we’ve done in the past. The Lightbringer cover will also be a response to the Darkfighter cover. We’re trying to tie it all in.
BM: When does Lightbringer drop?
DB: We’re saying fall. I think October is what we’re shooting for, but I haven’t heard an exact date. To be honest with you, we were hoping Darkfighter would be out before it was, because we started booking a tour thinking that the album would be out, but the vinyl thing is still an ongoing issue and there are always delays and setbacks. So we ended up having to start the tour before the album was out. So we’re saying October, but it’s a “hopefully” October.
BM: You mentioned the pandemic’s impact on your recording process this time. Do you think it creatively impacted these new songs as well?
DB: Yeah. It would be kind of impossible for it to not have, just because it was a heavy time obviously for everybody. There’s no way that doesn’t influence writing, and then just because as writers, what you write one day can be dramatically different than the next day, but add two years or more. So it definitely influenced this album, both atmospherically and environmentally, but also just because of how long it took to do it. There’s just going to be natural changes in how we’re hearing things and doing things. So it’s interesting putting together a body of work created over such a long period of time. We hope we never have to do it again, honestly.
BM: What was the last show you caught before the pandemic, and the first one after?
DB: I don’t get to see shows unless I’m playing at them. I bought tickets to a show last week and it’s the first time I bought tickets to anything honestly in years. We’re just always touring or busy, so I haven’t really gone out to see much music, unfortunately.
BM: What show did you just buy tickets for?
DB: I’m going to see Rufus Wainwright do his Want One and Want Two albums with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. He’s only doing it in Nashville and Chicago. I’m a big fan, so I’m bringing the family. It’s gonna be great.
BM: How has post-COVID touring been for the band? Were you out on the road right away when the pandemic started to wane?
DB: Yeah, we did a tour for the Pressure & Time 10-year anniversary in 2021, so not too long after. We were kind of one of the first ones to venture out and it backfired. I think within a week everybody had COVID and we had to cancel a bunch of shows. Fortunately it’s a different world out here now, which is wonderful, but at the time we ventured out early and it was real light attendance because people were still apprehensive. We’re still seeing that too, but not on that level. Early on it was pretty clear that people weren’t ready to be out yet. It’s an interesting journey back. The year 2019 was great for us; we had a lot of momentum, a couple of Grammy nominations, a number-one song on rock radio and then COVID hit, so we felt that momentum dissipate. It’s been interesting to come back out and see that people are starting to return, which is really reassuring. We’re feeling optimistic.
BM: Has the music business and/or the climate of the fans changed at all since COVID?
DB: I think so, yeah. We’re hearing from other acts that are out touring in similar venues and from promoters and agents and everything that it is still quite a bit lighter than it was pre-COVID. I think a lot of people are going to see big show—you know, stadium style shows—and ticket prices are through the roof on those things. So I think it’s some people just still aren’t ready to come out; some people maybe just developed new habits during that time and aren’t as eager to go out and see music. Then I also think there’s a lot of people that are just spending a lot of money to go see one act and that’s kind of their budget for the year for music. We’re seeing it across the board for bands on our level. Fortunately we’ve only had a couple of shows where it’s like, ‘Uh, what’s going on here?’ but otherwise, it’s been pretty good. We’ve got good ticket sales in most cities, so we’re feeling good about it. But we are hearing about industry-wide issues still at this point, a few years on.
BM: A big part of the draw for successful shows nowadays has been the packaging, with good opening bands making the difference. Did you hand-pick the opening acts on this tour yourself?
DB: They are. They were submitted to us through our agent. We had done a couple of shows with The Record Company in the past—good guys and we knew they put on a great show. And Starcrawler is a newer, younger band that we dig. They’re super cool and have a lot of great energy. Everybody seems to really dig them every night, too, so it’s been a good package. Then The Record Company leaves us soon and we’ve got The Black Angels coming out to do the second half of the tour with us. They’re really cool. It’s been great; it’s been a good package. Everybody’s real cool and it’s been fun so far.
BM: Once the second album drops in October, are you looking at a whole other round of touring right after? That’s two huge tours on top of one another.
DB: It is, yeah. We’ve got a busy year. We wrap this up like mid-June and then we’ve got a couple of festivals in Norway near the end of July, so we go in and out for that and then we go right into the Smashing Pumpkins tour. We’re doing that all of August into September. And then October the new album’s out and we’re straight to Europe. Lightbringer will be out when we’re in Europe, so I believe we’ll start playing those tunes on the European tour. And then as far as U.S tour plans for Lightbringer, that is still in the works. We don’t have anything on the books yet. But yeah, it’s a pretty busy run.
BM: After all that time off during the pandemic to recharge, I assume the tour weariness hasn’t set in yet.
DB: No, it’s been good to be out. We’ve been doing things like peppered shows here and there—one-off shows and a week here and a week there—so we built back up to doing it. But yeah, 2020 to mid-2021 when we had that whole time off was definitely interesting, because we’ve been going so hard for so long. In a lot of ways it was sort of refreshing. I’ve heard other people say that too, like it was a break they didn’t realize they needed. It kind of felt like that for us, a little bit. It was not the greatest circumstances, obviously, but I’m trying to find the light side there.
BM: After all the band has achieved to date—records, tours, Grammy nominations—what’s the thing that keeps you going and ambitious about the future? Are there things Rival Sons hasn’t done yet?
DB: We love making music. We love putting out albums. We’ve got our little machine here and people like to come out and see us play, and we love playing live. We’re always trying to grow our fan base and have the band grow. It’s just the natural part of what we’re doing. We like to think we’re putting out good music in a world that could use some good music, so that’s motivation for all of us. We want to keep doing what we’re doing. There are not a lot of people doing what we’re doing anymore, so we’re trying to keep that alive. That’s the motivation for us. The music’s always the motivation first.
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Rival Sons headline Empire Live in Albany on June 4, with guests The Record Company and Starcrawler. Tickets can be purchased online here.
