Asheville, North Carolina, band Andrew Scotchie & the River Rats was seemingly born for an event like Greenville’s Piedmont Natural Gas Downtown Alive.
The band’s surprisingly flexible sound is based in experimental-but-tight jam rock and bluesy funk, creating a seductive hybrid that’s both danceable and anthemic. It’s the perfect blend for a hot, sweaty and boisterous crowd, which is exactly what the band will have during Downtown Alive at NOMA Square July 11.
“Before I fell in love with the dynamics of music, I loved what a show could do for people and how it can lift up your spirits and heal them,” Scotchie says. “Every time we play, it’s medicinal for me. And I want people to feel the joy that I’m feeling.”
And for Scotchie and the River Rats, Greenville has become a perfect place to spread that joy.
“Anytime we play in Greenville, the crowd is a really wide demographic,” he says. “We see kids dancing and then we see people that are in their 60s and 70s. And people are just open to original music; they appreciate it, and that’s not always the case.”
The band is visiting the Upstate at an interesting time in its history. Scotchie last year put out “Love is Enough,” his first album under his own name, and he recently released a new single, “Queen Bee.” Both releases are heavy on acoustic guitar and touches of folk and country, genres that the more raucous River Rats haven’t explored.
“The latest record is more of an introspective piece,” Scotchie says. “It’s a little bit more about the songwriting and crafting songs instead of all-out rock and roll, which we still love to do.”
That’s an important point, because Scotchie might be using his own name now, but the River Rats are still very much in the picture.
“I had already been planning to get rid of the band name and to shorten everything,” Scotchie says, “It is still very much the same show, but things evolve; things change.”
What’s perhaps most exciting about Scotchie’s musical evolution is what’s coming next: A new album that incorporates the sound of the River Rats into his recent acoustic work.
“I think that the next record is going to be a combination of high-energy rock ’n’ roll, but it’s also going to take a lot of notes from ‘Love is Enough,’” he says, “because we accomplished stuff in the studio that really turned me on to new possibilities.”
Want to go?
Who: Andrew Scotchie & the River Rats
When: Thursday, July 11
Where: Piedmont Natural Gas Downtown Alive at NOMA Square, Greenville
Tickets and info: greenvillesc.gov/1321
The post Andrew Scotchie & the River Rats to rock Downtown Alive on July 11 appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.