Vector Arena is proud to present New Orleans folk-blues and Americana band, Hurray For The Riff Raff, as they make their exclusive New Zealand debut.
Led by Alynda Lee Segarra, Hurray For The Riff Raff are one of the most exciting bands on the US Americana scene, with the Americana Association having nominated them as an Emerging Artist of the Year in their 2014 Awards, and their new album Home Town Heroes being named as one of the best albums of 2014 so far by Rolling Stone, Spin and NPR, among others.
Anchored in adventure across 12 tracks of murder, heartbreak and spirit, Small Town Heroes sees Segarra – who produced the album – turning the tables on traditional folk and roots. On the band’s fifth and best offering yet you’ll find all the instruments of Americana: acoustic guitar, fiddle, harmonica, dobro, drum brushes and boot stomps, not so much rustic though as re-imagined. The result has critics raving:
“A new dawn for American roots music … one of the most striking albums 2014 will offer.” - Daily Mirror
“A slice of the purest gothic country 4/5” - Scotland on Sunday
“Standard bearers for a new, forward-thinking generation of roots musicians…9/10 - Uncut
Alynda Lee Segarra came to international attention in 2012 with Look Out Mama. The album earned her acclaim from NPR and the New York Times to Mojo and Paste, along with a breakout performance at the 2013 Newport Folk Festival, which solidified her place at the forefront of a new generation of young musicians celebrating and reimagining American roots music. “We really feel at home with a lot of worlds of people that don’t really seem to fit together,” she says of her work, “and we find a way to make them all hang out with our music. Whether it’s the queer community or some freight train-riding kids or some older guys who love classic country, a lot of folks feel like mainstream culture isn’t directed at them. We’re for those people.”
Raised in the Bronx with Puerto Rican blood in her veins, Segarra fell in love with doo-wop and Motown before spending her Saturdays travelling downtown to the Lower East Side, where she hit up punk and riot grrl matinees. At 17, she hitched to the West Coast. Playing washboard and learning a banjo she’d been gifted in North Carolina, Segarra wound up in New Orleans, just after Katrina had been through.
Led by singles ‘I Know It’s Wrong (But That’s Alright)’ and ‘Blue Ridge Mountain’, Small Town Heroes has earned Hurray For The Riff Raff a whole new following. Spin, NPR and Rolling Stone name-checked the LP in their ‘Best Albums of 2014’ mid-year countdowns.
