CD Review: Unknown Rider “Rtb”

It was back in 2014 that the organization known as Operation Encore was founded. Operation Encore is an organization that helps give former soldiers from all branches of the American military a new lease on life through the music that they are already creating on their own. And since the advent of the organization, two compilations have been created that feature music from those former soldiers.

Along with those compilations, several albums that were created by some of the artists are also being promoted by the organization. Artists such as Andrew Wiscombe, Steve Wilson, The Real Doug Lane, Steve Covell have put out albums that are being promoted with the help of Operation Encore. Rachel Harvey Hill, a wife of military personnel, has also released music that is being promoted by the organization. Now, former Coast Guard pilot Brian Boland has joined the “ranks” of former military personnel who are now a part of Operation Encore.

Brian Boland, the former Coast Guard pilot, joined the Operation Encore organization just recently and has just released his first EP entitled Rtb, a short-hand military term meaning “return to base”. On the Rtb EP, Boland has been joined by Ryan Johnson on guitar, Whit Wright on steel and piano, Kevin Mcclain on percussion, and Bill Corbin on Bass. Together,  Boland and these musicians combine their talents to bring Boland’s new release to life. 

For his music, Brian Boland performs under the moniker of Unknown Rider. It is with this moniker that he has just released his first album entitled Rtb, a short-hand military term meaning “return to base”. And to help shape his music, Boland has called upon the following musicians: Ryan Johnson on guitar, Whit Wright on steel and piano, Kevin Mcclain on percussion,and Bill Corbin on Bass. These men were also a part of the band known as American Aquarium. Together, Brian Boland and the four aforementioned men helped to bring the music of Unknown Rider to life.

As you make your way through the Rtb release, you notice a connecting theme between the tracks. That theme is movement. Many of the songs created by Unknown Rider deal with spending time in one specific place or another, and with the fact that Brian Boland spent much of his time in the military on the move,that really should not be that much of a surprise.

The Rtb release from Unknown Rider begins with the track “Hatteras”. This is the first of many songs on the album that deal with the theme of traveling. With this song, the lyrics find Brian Boland spending some time reflecting on a past relationship; a relationship that, apparently, took place on the beaches of North Carolina. The track features a Pop-Rock feel to the music. That Pop-Rock influence seems to take the listener back to the time of the nineties as the track’s musical approach brings to mind bands like Third Eye Blind or Goo Goo Dolls.

Unknown Rider’s new release continues with the track “Reykjavik”. With this track, the travelling theme continues. The lyrical content in the song deals with Brian Boland’s time as a pilot in the military as the song follows Boland on one of his many adventures with the men he served alongside. While the previous track of “Hatteras” contained a Pop-Rock feel to the music, “Reykjavik” has a strong Country vibe to it. That Country flavor comes courtesy of the inclusion of things like a slide guitar.

Just as fast as Unknown Rider’s sound changed with the track “Reykjavik,” the feel of the music changes again on the song “Mexico”. While you might expect a song with a title such as “Mexico” to have a Latin flavor, nothing could be further from the truth with this track. In fact, the music of “Mexico” actually brings to mind a combination of The White Stripes and Tom Petty. The sing-song style of the lyrics on the track actually brings to mind an influence of Tom Waits in both style and delivery. And once again, the lyrical content of “Mexico” deals with Brian Boland’s time on the road in the military.

Since many of the songs on the Rtb album from Unknown Rider deal with Brian Boland’s past, it should come as no surprise thata song or two would deal with the mental side of things. One song that deals with that side of things is “Searchin’”. And while the lyrics on the track do not go very deep into that, Boland does sing about considering what might have been, what has been and what happened to others who were around him as he goes in search of answers to questions he now has. As far as the music to the track is concerned, the five-plus minute song contains and Rock and Roll feel that features the sound of the organ Whit Wright as the main instrument.

The pace of the music slows way down on the song “The Shakes”. Just like with the earlier track son the album the lyrical content of this song deal with things that have taken place in past. On “The Shakes,” a combination of too much coffee and too many memories combine to create the shakes. The slow, steady pace to the music adds a bit of tension to the already tense feeling of the words to the track. It’s almost like you can feel the way Boland feels as he sings.

One of the most unique tracks the Rtb album from Unknown Rider has to be “Kerosene”. The slow pace that was featured on “The Shakes” returns on “Kerosene”. With this track, creates a song that combines several different elements into one track. The music of the track contains a musical combination of Rock and Roll and Soul. The result is something that is rather reminiscent of a track from The Band. Along with the Influence from The Band, the lyrics contain two distinct flavors at once. You can hear in Brian Boland’s voice a touch of Bob Dylan. That Dylan influence also appears in the lyrics.But the lyrics also seem to contain some Tom Waits influence to them.Altogether, the song of “Kerosene” is one of the standout tracks on the entire ten-song release.

After nine tracks that find Brian Boland writing about travelling from one place to another, he brings the album from Unknown Rider to a close with the title track. It is with the final track “RTB” that the term “return to base” seems to make sense as Boland sings of finally being able to go back to where he started off; or, being able to “return to base”. The final track of the release finds Boland and the rest of the musicians who helped him put the album together creating a track with one of the strongest musical directions on the release. The music of the track contains a strong guitar-driven Rock and Roll feel that would fit right with tracks from the seventies, early eighties. For a final track, the song “RTB” actually brings the album to a close with a strong feeling as opposed to most albums that feature a more laidback track for the final song.

Throughout the entire Rtb album from Unknown Rider, the listener is treated to songs that feature many different musical approaches. As a matter of fact, no two tracks feel the same. The album proves that, as a writer, Brian Boland has a lot of talent. The ever-changing feel of the debut release from The Unknown Rider offers some for nearly everyone. 

To hear some of the music from Unknown Rider, check out the live version of the track “Searchin‘” as performed by Brian Boland as part of the Sofar concept. 

You can find the rtb album from Unknown Rider on spotify. Also find him on Instagram under @unknownridermusic. 

In addition to recording under Unknown Rider, Brain Boland is a published author. You can find him under the penname Cole Williams. 

For more reading about Operation Encore, check out the review for the first album, the second release of Monuments,the review for Rachel Harvey Hill, the review for Andrew Wiscombe, the review of Steve D. Wilson, the review for The Real Doug Lane, and the review for Stephen Covell by clicking on the links that are highlighted.  

Single Review: Oddnote “Mystified”

In only two decades, musician Arman Asadsangabi has done more than most. A few years ago, he picked up the guitar and learned how to rock. As a matter of fact, he took that ability to play the guitar and started a band and it was with that band that he has started to make some noise. Down in Nashville, Tennessee, Asadsangabi and his band called Oddnote have just made a lot of noise as they just created an album. That self-titled album stands out rather loudly as the release contains not Country music, but Rock and Roll. And after making noise with that album, Asadsangabi and Oddnote have returned with one additional song. The new single from Oddnote is entitled “Mystified”. The track features Arman Asadsangabi on guitar and vocals, as well as the rest of the band which includes Nick Huff (drums) and Matthew Millstein (bass). Together, the trio is currently creating a style that seems to take some of the influence from older Classic Rock bands like Cream and combine their sound with newer ones like the White Stripes and the Black Keys.  With that blend, “Mystified” is a quick-paced track that features a strong guitar feel to the music that comes with bass and drums that help to drive the beat of the track. The result is a track that would easily have fit into the same timeframe as the music of Cream but with a a little modern feel to the music as well. And just like many of the songs that had been created back in the mid-sixties to mid-seventies, the track comes complete with lyrics that seem to speak to the listener. With lyrics such as “I know you’re sad inside. Well so am I I’m terrified. The world is burning down…” the lyrics seem to be speaking of the current political atmosphere here in America. And while the lyrics hint in that direction, you can interpret those words any way you want. The track is only one song from a band who already released one album of Rock and Roll. But this new single suggests that the band is far from finished with their music making. In the Country-rich city of Nashville, Tennessee, Oddnote is making their presence felt and “Mystified” is strong enough that Classic Rock lovers both young and old will enjoy this track.

While the self-titled album from Oddnote is available, the band’s new single of “Mystified” has yet to be released. Stay tuned to the band’s website of www.oddnote.net to stay updated as to when the song will be available. 

For more information, check out Oddnote’s PR firm of Whiplash PR & Management by clicking on the logo for the company.

 

CD Review: Bob Pressner “King of Nothing”

Sometimes your calling really isn’t your calling. It may take some time to realize that you should be doing something else. That’s what Commodities Trader-turned-musician Bob Pressner discovered and is now on his way to making a name for himself in the music industry.

The musical path that Bob Pressner has taken led him to create music that incorporates a lot of styles and genres into his style. It is this style of Americana that Pressner has included on his new release called King of Nothing.

Bob Pressner begins his new release King of Nothing with the song “iGirl”. A song about trying to find real love in a world of information where you have no contact with anyone real (“We found the future but forgot each other”), the singer sings about a woman who would be great to know if he could actually meet her. The song has a very catchy rock sound that will definitely have you singing along.

The pace slows down on the title track of Bob Pressner’s new release. “King of Nothing” is a pop song that features a beautiful instrumental background complete with strings. The pop/folk feel to the music works well when paired up with lyrics about a man who feels that he has nothing to show for himself and cannot even stake claim to anything of importance. The sad lyrics and the beautiful music combine to make a very moving song.

One of the best tracks on the album is probably the most infectious, as well. “Next Summer Never Came” is one of those well-written pop songs that have an unbelievably catchy hook as well as lyrics that will, once again, tear at your heart with their powerful feeling of sadness. The mostly acoustic song is very strong in its music. This song about unfulfilled love is strangely beautiful, give the meaning of the lyrics. It is also one track that will have you reaching for “repeat”.

And then, for the first time on the King of Nothing release, Bob Pressner releases his rock side. With the song “Renaissance Man,” Pressner creates a song that brings to mind the music of bands like The White Stripes or The Black Stripes. The guitar and drums of the song create the main part of the music to the track. If you are a fan of bands like The White Stripes, The Black Keys or even Mr. Gnome, this song would really feed your hunger for that type of rock music.

The pace slows down once again with the next track called “The Blue Has Left your Eyes”. In a song that sounds more like Alt-Country than Rock music, the words of this song sound as if Pressner is channeling songwriters like James Taylor or even Jim Croce. The meaning behind the lyrics to this song has greater depth than the vast majority of the songs being written by today’s artists or songwriters.

“Thinking Man” seems to find Pressner taking on the role of singer-songwriter. With words that seem to be more important to the song than creating a hard-rockin’ track, Bob Pressner seems to, once again, channel the likes of James Taylor. The relaxed feel of the track even has Taylor’s style to it.

The twang of the guitar on “Water Water” along with Bob Pressner’s smoky vocals brings to mind the music from Bob Dylan. The roots rock base to the music mixed with a more modern and soulful approach to the song make for a song that could find an audience almost anywhere.

The King of Nothing release from Bob Pressner features a lot of twists and turns throughout the length of the album: The Alternate Rock style of the song “Renaissance Man” mixed with the Alt-Country sound of “The Blue Has Left Your Eyes” and the Pop feel of the song “Next Summer Never Came” along with the “pop culture” references found in the song “iGirl” all help to shape the new album. Each song on the King of Nothing release gives the listener a different take on the talent of Bob Pressner; and each song on the new release from Bob Pressner gives the listener plenty of variety in the music.

Click the song title for the video to “King of Nothing“.