Dry the River were an English
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band, formed in the
Stratford district of
East London in 2009.
History
They played their first headline show at the Luminaire in
Kilburn, London
Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which spans the boundary of three London Boroughs: London Borough of Camden, Camden to the east, City of Westminster, London Borough of Brent, Brent to the west. There is also an area in the City ...
, in April 2010. Since this time, the band have toured extensively in the United Kingdom, as well as worldwide, including Europe and North America. After two
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. s and significant early radio support from
BBC Introducing
BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...
, the band signed to
Transgressive Records
Transgressive Records is an independent record label based in London, formed in 2004. Its founders, Tim Dellow and Toby L, first met at a Bloc Party gig organised by Toby's Rockfeedback website.
The label's debut release was "1am" by the Subwa ...
in 2010. They released their debut single, "No Rest", in March 2011. The band's subsequent run of UK festivals in 2011 included the
Glastonbury Festival,
The Great Escape Festival
The Great Escape Festival is a three-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts ...
, the
iTunes Festival, the
Latitude Festival,
Summer Sundae, the
Green Man Festival
The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...
,
Bestival
Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...
, and the
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fe ...
.
In March 2011, the band created
charity t-shirtfor the
Yellow Bird Project
Yellow Bird Project (often abbreviated YBP) is a company that collaborates with indie bands to raise money for charity, primarily through the sale of T-shirts. They approach indie bands, asking them to choose a charity and submit an original desig ...
to raise money for Asylum Aid; an organization that provides specialist legal representation and advice to people seeking asylum in the UK. They also filmed a four-part video series called the "YBP Wilderness Sessions", to promote the release of the shirt.
They were on the long list on the BBC's
Sound of 2012 poll.
Paul Lester
Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London.
Career
He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', ''20/20'', '' Sky Magazin ...
compared them in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' to fellow Londoners
Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, k ...
, commenting that the group "offer a glimpse of the pastoral with their infectious semi-acoustic ditties".
The band recorded their debut album, ''
Shallow Bed'' in the United States in
Bridgeport
Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, with producer
Peter Katis
Peter Katis is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and musician.
Katis is best known for working with alternative and indie rock bands. He works primarily out of his own residential studio, Tarquin Studios, ...
. Katis had previously worked with
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
,
Jónsi
Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his "angelic" falset ...
and
The National.
The album was released in the UK on 5 March 2012, and in the US on 17 April 2012.
During 2012, they played festival shows throughout Europe, including the
Roskilde Festival, the
Underage Festival
The Underage Festival was a music festival in Victoria Park, London that was open only to those between 13 and 17.
The festival took place at the beginning of August each year. There were five main stages: the Converse Century Main Stage, the ...
,
2000 Trees
2000trees festival is an independent music festival held from Wednesday to Sunday on the second week of July at Upcote Farm, Withington, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. It offers a diverse selection of more than 120 acts across five stages ...
,
Pohoda Festival and
Open'er Festival
The Open'er Festival is a music festival which takes place on the north coast of Poland, in Gdynia. It is one of the biggest annual music festivals in Poland. The first edition of the festival was organized in Warsaw in 2002 as ''Open Air Festi ...
, as well as North American festivals, including the
Sasquatch Festival,
Lollapalooza 2012 and the
Austin City Limits Festival
The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/ PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-base ...
. In November 2012, Dry The River released a limited edition beer, brewed with Signature Brew, called Mammoth. An acoustic version of ''Shallow Bed'' was released by download only on 17 December 2012.
The band recorded their second album in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
in early 2013, to be released later in the year. In February 2014, Dry the River announced on their Facebook page that violinist William Harvey had departed the band in order to pursue other projects. Their second album, titled ''
Alarms in the Heart'', was released on 25 August, and was supported by a UK tour. They contributed a
cover of a
Metric
Metric or metrical may refer to:
* Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement
* An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement
Mathematics
In mathem ...
song, "Satellite Mind", for the compilation album ''
Good People Rock'' which was released on 14 April 2015.
Following their involvement with
Disaronno
Disaronno Originale (28% abv) is a type of amaretto—an amber-colored liqueur with a characteristic almond taste, although it does not actually contain almonds. It is produced in Saronno, in the Lombardy region, and is sold worldwide. Accordin ...
's Terrace Party, the band confirmed in an interview that "next on the agenda is definitely to start thinking about album three". The band went on to explain, "We’re not anywhere close to a release date or anything yet, but Peter has some material he’s been working on that we’re excited about, and we’re looking at getting back into a studio when we can to start work on that".
They announced their split on their Facebook page on 12 November 2015, along with the release of their final EP, ''Hooves of Doubt''.
In 2018, Peter Liddle announced the release of his first solo EP ''Casual Labour'' under the name of ''PD Liddle.''
Members
Present
* Peter Liddle – guitar, tenor horn, lead vocals
* Matthew Taylor – guitar, keys, vocals
* Scott Miller – bass, percussion, vocals
* Jon Warren – drums, percussion
Past
* Will Harvey – keys, violin, viola, mandolin
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Shallow Bed'' (5 March 2012)
* ''
Alarms in the Heart'' (25 August 2014)
Extended plays
* ''The Chambers and the Valves'' (2009)
* ''Bible Belt'' (2010)
* ''Weights & Measures'' (2011)
* ''Shallow Bed (Acoustic)'' (2012)
* ''Hooves of Doubt'' (2015)
Singles
* "New Ceremony" (7 March 2011)
* "No Rest" (17 June 2011)
* "Weights and Measures" (11 November 2011)
* "The Chambers and the Valves" (24 February 2012)
* "New Ceremony" (16 April 2012)
* "Zaytoun" (2013)
* "Gethsemane" (June 2014)
* "Everlasting Light" (July 2014)
* "Rollerskate" (January 2015)
See also
*
Culture of London
*
List of bands from England
This is a list of notable bands/musicians from uk England. Bands should be notable and linked to their articles which lists their English origins in the lead. References should be provided for any new entries on this list. Bands may be tempor ...
*
List of folk-rock artists
*
List of indie-rock musicians
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Category English folk rock groups
2009 establishments in England
21st-century British musicians
English indie rock groups
Musical groups established in 2009
Musical groups disestablished in 2015
Musical groups from London
Sony Music artists
Stratford, London
British indie folk groups
Transgressive Records artists