No River
Websites:
http://noriver.com/
Origin:
Calgary, Alberta
Biography:
No River is a country roots/folk project based in Calgary, AB. With a proclivity for songwriting and arrangement, No River writes music that aims to capture the spirit of growing up in a prairie town and convey emotions of youth, love, defeat, recklessness, and optimism.
Recorded and produced by No River, their debut album Don’t Pray was track recorded over three cold winter months in a tiki-room converted studio in Calgary. The album displays the talents of songwriters Cody Swinkels and Stewart Elton encapsulated in a mix of warm tones, folk instrumentation, haunting melodies, and guitar hooks.
Members include Cody Swinkels (Act Fast), Stewart Elton (Jane Vain and the Dark Matter), Trenton Shaw, Lawrence Nasen (Jon Gant), and Ryan Mueller. Since its formation in 2010, significant performances have included opening for Justin Townes Earle at the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary, and performing with Burning Hell, Matt Masters, Leroy Stag, Jenn Gant, Wax Mannequin, Sun Wizard, and Samantha Savage Smith.
No River bridges gaps between country swing, roots music, folk-pop, rock and roll, and Americana. This is something both familiar and distant.
Stewart Elton: bass, vocals
Cody Swinkels: rhythm guitar, vocals
Lawrence Nasen: lead uitar
Trenton Shaw: drums
Chris Neville: keys, vocals
..the idea of a country band in Calgary as genuine and vital as No River is almost unthinkable.
Considering the rawness and passion that characterizes their live shows, the album (Don’t Pray) is a surprisingly restrained document of the band’s sound, though no less indicative of their ability to communicate emotions and ideas with punk’s immediacy and country’s wistfulness.
-FFWD Magazine
No River’s songs are filled with trouble brewing, breakdowns and regrets. The wild ass behaviors get the street rat locked up overnight in “Five Open Warrants” and “living on restless time” surely has some sort of bad consequence. They play these songs with conviction, like they mean it, like they’ve lived it and are going to drag themselves through the torture a few more times.
There’s a recklessness inside the stories and in the delivery that renders the music brash, upfront and full of open wounds. No River plays country punk with a raw, tattered intensity, an unrefined quality that doesn’t try to clean itself up, surrender or beg for forgiveness. They might not apologize, but they’re willing to admit failure, fucking up and the damage done.
The CD (Don’t Pray) is also littered with tender moments, often enough the tough guy is reduced to a pile of romantic rubble. Tears don’t flow, but the strain shows, and the cracks in the amour, the vulnerability, a beautiful display.
-Beatroute (Brad Simm)
No River is a country roots/folk project based in Calgary, AB. With a proclivity for songwriting and arrangement, No River writes music that aims to capture the spirit of growing up in a prairie town and convey emotions of youth, love, defeat, recklessness, and optimism.
Recorded and produced by No River, their debut album Don’t Pray was track recorded over three cold winter months in a tiki-room converted studio in Calgary. The album displays the talents of songwriters Cody Swinkels and Stewart Elton encapsulated in a mix of warm tones, folk instrumentation, haunting melodies, and guitar hooks.
Members include Cody Swinkels (Act Fast), Stewart Elton (Jane Vain and the Dark Matter), Trenton Shaw, Lawrence Nasen (Jon Gant), and Ryan Mueller. Since its formation in 2010, significant performances have included opening for Justin Townes Earle at the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary, and performing with Burning Hell, Matt Masters, Leroy Stag, Jenn Gant, Wax Mannequin, Sun Wizard, and Samantha Savage Smith.
No River bridges gaps between country swing, roots music, folk-pop, rock and roll, and Americana. This is something both familiar and distant.
