To dovetail their April and May UK tour, When Rivers Meet have released the first single ‘Play My Game‘ from their forthcoming third studio album ‘Aces Are High‘.
Award-winning blues rock duo When Rivers Meet have announced the release of their third album ‘Aces Are High‘ out later this summer and available to pre-order now here. The exciting news of the new album precedes their April and May UK headline tour which starts April 28th. Tickets for the UK tour are available from www.whenriversmeet.co.uk/tour.
WRM will also perform on Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive Mediterranean III Cruise which departs Athens on August 17th. Cabins are available from here. The cruise also features Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Blackberry Smoke.
Regarding the forthcoming album the duo say, “As our music is progressing, we’re finding our sound even more. When we went in the studio this time, we’ve never been so sure on what we wanted to create—we had a really clear vision and have stuck to it.
“Before we held back on being too rocky, but this time we allowed ourselves to create what we wanted to hear, without restricting ourselves. We also allowed ourselves to express the different colours to our music with tracks like ‘Golden’ and ‘By Your Side’, so this album has more extremes. We still call upon our influences from all the years but remain true to ourselves to create music we love.”
The pair lay their first hand from the new record with the scorching lead single ‘Play My Game’, a groove-laden, driving blues track with rich riffs and searing vocals. It’s a bold statement of intent with a badass video to boot, capturing a poker game gone south leading to a high-speed car chase and daring aeroplane escape.
Since their formation in 2019, the husband-and-wife duo Grace Bond (vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (vocals, guitar) have been quick to prove themselves one of the most exciting names in British blues rock. Blending Americana, folk, blues, and rock in a distinctly unique manner, they have been showered with many awards and accolades.
Their forthcoming album ‘Aces Are High‘ follows two critically acclaimed records: ‘We Fly Free‘ (2020), which reached No.1 in the iTunes Blues Album Chart, and ‘Saving Grace‘ (2021), which charted at No.2 in the UK Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart, No.5 UK Official Album Downloads Chart, and No.6 UK Official Independent Albums Chart. These were based purely on chart reporting digital sales and didn’t include physical sales.
When Rivers Meet were the first band to win four awards at the UK Blues Awards 2021 and another three awards in 2022, including Blues Band Of The Year on both occasions. In 2021 When Rivers Meet were voted Best New Band at Planet Rock’s The Rocks Awards, and in 2022 won Planet Rock’s Blues Power Award and Album Of The Year Award with ‘Saving Grace‘.
‘Aces Are High‘ finds the duo returning with a more powerful sound than ever before. Aaron’s gnarled riffs hit harder alongside his deep vocal tones, while Grace’s vocals range wider with tantalising bite as they effortlessly climb scales like her striking slide mandolin which accompanies the likes of ‘Trail To Avalon’.
The immediacy of the new record is showcased from the off with the hard-hitting opener ‘Infected’, while no punches are pulled on the kick-out-time anthem ‘5 Minutes Until Midnight’. Nevertheless, its contrasting sides find delicate moments such as the reflective acoustic song ‘Golden’ and the shimmering Americana of ‘By Your Side’.
Tracklist:
- Infected
- Seen It All Before
- Play My Game
- Golden
- Aces Are High
- Trail To Avalon
- Perfect Stranger
- The Secret
- By Your Side
- 5 Minutes Until Midnight
When Rivers Meet developed a powerful live reputation and with their first headline tour last year, which they played to capacity crowds across the country. They will be hitting the road again throughout April and May 2023 on a UK headline tour, with special guest “Arielle”, and includes a date at London’s Lafayette on May 6th. Ahead of this they will be touring the UK with REEF while in the summer When Rivers Meet have also been announced to play a number of festivals.
Full tour dates are listed below and tickets are on sale now at https://whenriversmeet.co.uk
When Rivers Meet Headline Tour Dates:
April
28th – Colchester, Arts Centre
29th – Norwich, The Waterfront
May
4th – Brighton, Komedia
6th – London, Lafayette
11th – Bristol, The Fleece
12th – Birmingham, Asylum
13th – Southampton, 1865
14th – Tavistock, Wharf
19th – Barnard Castle, The Whitham
20th – Glasgow, The Garage
21st – Newcastle, Newcastle University
25th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
26th – Bradford, Nightrain
27th – Manchester, Academy 3
Festivals:
May
28th – Festival In The Gardens, Braintree
July
1st – Linton Festival, Ross-On-Wye
2nd – Alford Rock and Blues Festival, Alford
7th – Bures Music Festival, Bures
28th – Steelhouse Festival, Ebbw Vale
August
4th – Cambridge Rock Festival, Horseheath
11th – Firestorm (Manchester) Rock Festival, Stockport
17th/22nd – Keeping Blues Alive At Sea III, Athens
October
6th – Cornwall Rocks Festival, Looe
November
12th – Whitby Blues, Rhythm & Rock, Whitby
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