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Puerto Rican-born Alynda Lee Segarra left home at 17 after being raised by her aunt Nereida in the Bronx, where she took a keen interest in the hardcore punk scene. Upon leaving New York, Segarra hitchhiked and hopped freight trains across North America, later joining a collective of train-yard musicians, the Dead Man’s Street Orchestra. Playing a banjo a close friend gave to her, the musician soon began penning her own songs, and alongside core members Yosi Pearlstein (drummer/violinist) and David Maclay (bass) formed Hurray for the Riff Raff.
Utilising myriad experiences on the road and rails, as well as a wide spectrum of musical influences, Hurray for Riff Raff issued their debut album “It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You” in 2008. The self-released album, which featured a host of accordion, guitar, organ and saw players, highlights Segarra's wavering country vocals and folk-blues accompaniment. The band’s follow-up, “Young Blood Blues”, was similarly self-released and arrived in 2010. Following the release Hurray for the Riff Raff signed with Loose Music, who issued a self-titled album of Segarra’s favourite tracks in 2011. The group’s profile was subsequently raised with features on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, along with the HBO TV series “Treme”.
Released on their own label Born to Win Records in the U.S. and on Loose Music in Europe, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s third album “Look Out Mama” appeared in 2012. Recorded at The Bomb Shelter Studios in Nashivlle, Tennessee, the record proved a popular release among fans and earned a string of positive reviews. The band’s subsequent release was the cover album “My Dearest Darkest Neighbor” issued by Mod Mobilian Records in July 2013. Initially the reward for contributing to the group’s Kickstarter campaign, the record features covers of tracks by Billie Holiday, Gillian Welch, John Lennon, and Lucinda Williams among others. Led by the single “St. Roch Blues”, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s major label debut on ATO Records arrived in February 2014 entitled “Small Town Heroes”.
Hurray for the Riff Raff are a distinctive feel good folk and country band that hail from New Orleans, Louisiana. The fantastic Alynda Lee Segarra, who has such a good voice for storytelling, fronts them. It’s very easy to find yourself hanging on every word that she sings with her captivating tone. They are in the house tonight to perform their original material, starting with a song called “Look Out Mama” a song that has a very original kind of instrumentation with a drum kit hit by timpani beaters, a violin, a double bass, and a synthesizer which supplies some odd and original gated synthesizer sound. “Crash on the Highway”, allows the violin to play in a very fiddle kind of manner, adopting some double stops and a lot of glissandos here and there. It really goes back to the more original country and western bluegrass style that was very large in the 50’s and 60’s but of course, this band somehow manages to make it work in this present day, making it sound current. They are well worth a watch if you want to loose yourself in some music that sounds different.
Lannistaar
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