As I think to myself how great Twitter is as a way to discover music, I find Nightmare River Band. Their SoundCloud link became my focus and I enjoyed what I heard. After typing with front-man Matt, we came down to blog business. Click play on “Goodbye To Your Friends” and resist smiling. This Bronx NYC based group is sure to keep you smiling. Read about the story and the band below.
Story Behind “Goodbye To Your Friends”
Goodbye to Your Friends was one of those songs that stuck around for years without being finished. I wrote the verses sitting at a campfire overlooking Lake Algonquin in the Adirondack Mountains. It was part of a two week writing/ rehearsing retreat with my previous band, Fire Flies. There was an old boat next to the cabin we were staying in. Being out in the open air, overlooking the dark water, and most likely having a couple PBR’s down the hatch, I set out to write a sea shanty.
“First we’ll patch the old boat up, and sail into the sea..” was the first line I came up with. Oddly enough, it ended up being the final line of the song. Fire Flies eventually split up, and the song sat around unfinished. Years later, I was flipping through one of my old writing notebooks and stumbled across it. I was reminded of all the great times we had with Fire Flies, and though we were still all close friends, certain things had obviously changed with time. I sat down, and within minutes I had the chorus to “Goodbye to Your Friends” and the song was finally finished.
Nightmare River Band Links
Nightmare River Band Bio
The Nightmare River Band (NRB) is a fierce combination of raucous Alt-Country, Americana and good ol’ Rock N’ Roll. According to Matt Krahula, songwriter and front man, the songs are about “love, loss, pain and drinking… not necessarily in that order.”
After their debut album Call the Cops!! (2009) NRB hit the road and played SXSW, CMJ, Summerfest, and the Old Port Festival, sharing the stage with acts such as The Legendary Shack Shakers, Sean Rowe, Robert Ellis, Tokyo Police Club, and Old Man Markley. Their crowd-pleaser “Mary,” was nominated for an Independent Music Award for Best Alt-Folk Song of 2010. When NRB released their sophomore album Last Goodbye (2012), Popmatters gave it 8 out of 10 stars, referring to it as “One of 2012’s best!”
Recently, core members Matt Krahula, Seth Faulk (Drums, Vocals), and Wil Farr (Guitar, Vocals) teamed up with an all-star roster of collaborators to record their third full length release, entitled Stormville. The new album, due out fall 2017, represents a departure from the typical studio recording environment. After several writing and arranging sessions, the songs were recorded live in a remote farmhouse in upstate New York. Stormville combines all of the ingredients of The Nightmare River Band’s potent blend: foot-stomping rhythms, overflowing arrangements, and infectious chorus’ that you can’t help but sing along to.