HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF 2014
PERFORMING SMALL TOWN HEROES
AUSTRALIAN TOUR NOVEMBER 2014
With words like “faultless” (The Guardian) and “awestruck” (American Songwriter), critics have hailed Small Town Heroes – released via ATO Records/[PIAS] Australia – as one of the best albums of 2014.
Now New Orleans indie folkies Hurray For The Riff Raff – led by Alynda Lee Segarra – are bringing their acclaimed sound to Australia for the very first time in November.
“The voice of the future” – NPR, All Songs Considered
“A scrapbook of wandering and loss” – New York Times
“Standard-bearers for a new, forward-thinking generation of roots musicians… 9/10” – Uncut
“Segarra’s supple, intimate vocals are about more than conjuring a musical past … she clearly wants to shape the future, too.” – Rolling Stone, Best Albums of 2014
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. As Pitchfork puts it: “Small Town Heroes is an album about how life and music intersect. Rather than play to her record collection, however, Segarra takes the records out of their sleeves, scratches them up, and makes the old music speak to new concerns.”
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… a whole new following. Spin, NPR and Rolling Stone name-checked the LP in their ‘Best Albums of 2014’ mid-year countdowns, Segarra earning shout outs from Vogue. Singles have spun on triple j’s Roots N All, BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 – where it scored Album Of The Week – and more.
In July the band performed a smouldering take of ‘The Body Electric’ on “Late Show With David Letterman”, having already won over “Conan O’Brien” weeks earlier.
As well as their headline dates in Sydney and Melbourne, Hurray… will perform two festival dates during their Aussie visit: northern NSW’s Mullum Music Festival and VIC’s Queenscliff Music Festival. Tickets for both festivals are on sale now.
Sweeping through genres with grace and grit, Hurray For The Riff Raff are not to be missed!
TOUR DATES
22/11/14
Mullumbimby, NSW
Mullum Music Festival
23/11/14
Mullumbimby, NSW
Mullum Music Festival
26/11/14
Sydney, NSW
Newtown Social Club
Supported by Caitlin Harnett
27/11/14
Melbourne, VIC
Northcote Social Club
Supported by Brighter Later
29/11/14
Meeniyan, VIC
Meeniyan Town Hall
Supported by Brighter Later
30/11/14
Queenscliff, VIC
Queenscliff Music Festival