Rival Sons

Long Beach, California's Rival Sons wielded a sonic palette of classic rock and roll voltage and volume that won it a cult following in the United States and chart hits throughout Europe. The original lineup of Rival Sons came from the ashes of another group, Black Summer Crush, which was comprised of Thomas Flowers from Oleander and guitarist Scott Holiday. When the band lost its rhythm section, Holiday recruited drummer Michael Miley, a studio musician and former member of the "Last Call with Carson Daly" (NBC, 2002-2019) house band, who also brought bassist Robin Everhart into the fold. Black Summer Crush would record and perform together for three years before calling it quits; Holiday, Miley and Everhart then began working on material for a new act with producer Dave Cobb, which with the addition of Jay Buchanan - a solo artist who had worked with Miley - became the lineup for Rival Sons. They issued a self-released album, Before the Fire (2009), which drew critical praise for its heavy, guitar-driven impact. Opening slots for such classic rock forebears as AC/DC and Alice Cooper preceded a contract with the metal imprint Earache Records. The label issued Rival Sons' first physical album, Pressure & Time (2011), which again won over rock fans, who helped to send its blues-drenched hard rock to No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band toured extensively to support the record, including opening slots for Evanescence and Judas Priest, before returning to the studio to record their third album, Head Down (2012). Though less successful than its predecessor, the record reached the Top 10 in several European countries, thanks in part to relentless touring with the likes of the Eagles of Death Metal, KISS and Sammy Hagar. The schedule proved too grueling for Everhart, who departed the lineup in 2013; his replacement, Dave Beste, made his album debut on their fourth album, Great Western Valkyrie (2014), which cracked the Top 5 on various European album charts. By this point, Rival Sons had settled into a regular routine of club dates and opening slots for classic rock bands in the United States and major dates in Europe, followed by a return the studio for a new album. In 2015, their fifth album, Hollow Bones (2015), preceded tours with Deep Purple and later Black Sabbath for its farewell tour in 2016 and 2017. The following year, Rival Sons left Earache for Low Country Sound, an imprint of Elektra Records founded by their producer, Dave Cobb. A 2018 single, "Do Your Worst" - a Top 5 single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Records chart - was quickly followed by their sixth album, Feral Roots, which again saw placement in the upper reaches of the European albums charts.