"The Blues nexus with Rock was so complete it was seamless. If you have Blues on your mind, there it is. If it’s Rock, it’s certainly there. It was Rock in those days for me. And still is apparently with an increasing love for the Blues. I think the Blues is a great way to deliver ideas. I’m hooked!"

Randy Lee Riviere: Concrete Blues

Singer/songwriter Randy Lee Riviere, will be released his new blues/roots-rock album, “Concrete Blues” (Release Day: September 13), produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy), on Wilderness Records. Concrete Blues showcases Randy’s thought-provoking songs and voice supported by a cast of A-List musicians … people who have backed up artists such as Bob Dylan, Delbert McClinton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buddy Guy and many others in the past. Along with this stellar cast, Riviere delivers a solid blues/rock album that is as modern in its message as it is traditional in its delivery. Riviere, who splits his time between his Montana farm and a home outside of Nashville, has delivered an album that fits right at home with today’s blues/rock anthems as well as Americana’s rootsy vibes. In addition to a lifetime of music, Randy, as a wildlife biologist, has been involved with large-scale efforts in the past working to protect and restore important elements of the Native American landscape.

(Randy Lee Riviere / Photo © by Jeff Fasano)

One example of these efforts involved his leadership role in protecting over 40,000 acres of wildlife habitat with permanent conservation easements. The title track of his new album, Concrete Blues, speaks to the impacts of dams on watersheds in Western America. Music, and later songwriting has always been a driving force in Randy’s heart. Today, he prefers a more peaceful life out in the country somewhere, where he can take his past experiences all in, and consider our future in a rapidly changing world. His songs are quite diverse, but they commonly have a foundation involving the human condition and what’s happening to the natural landscape he loves.

Interview by Michael Limnios             Archive: Randy Lee Riviere, 2023 Interview

Special Thanks: Mark Pucci Media & Randy Lee Riviere / Photos © by Jeff Fasano

Currently you’ve had one release with Tom Hambridge. How did that relationship come about? Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album Concrete Blues? 

Tom and I connected through my publicist Mark Pucci, and it was a great match.  He and I are roughly the same age and grew up with some of the same influences, from the ‘60s/’70s mainly: Cream, Ten Years After, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, the Beatles of course, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, etc. And ZZ Top. Their Tres Hombres album hit a nerve with me that will never die, and you can hear some of that vibe on this record. We went through all the material in front of us and decided to do a Blues Rock record. Let the fur fly - and that’s what we did. Man, it is fun working with Tom. He’s a pro ... a no bullshit kind of guy with great project management skills. His ideas and approach were surprising, exciting and totally true to the songs. The truth is paramount to a good song, I believe. Tom gets that and is an exemplary producer. And he’s easily among the best drummers on this planet! Tom took us to the historical Soundstage Studio in downtown Nashville … the heart of the Nashville music scene. I think several hundred #1 hits came out of this building over the 40 years or so it’s been there.  It was a humbling experience! 

Tom wanted to use basically two bands … the initial group involved Kenny Greenberg on guitar, Steve Mackey on bass, Mike Rojas on piano and Tom on the drums. These folks are just unbelievable; a wonder to behold. I did a scratch vocal while we tracked the tunes to help the guys get the true vibe of the songs, and we did the final vocals over at The Switchyard not too far away. For the second group, Bob Britt came in to play the guitar with Robert Kearns on bass along with the other guys. They were awesome as well, and brought in a bit of a different vibe - Tom’s vision for some of the tunes. We did a really long 12 plus-hour day at the Soundstage. Tom knew what he wanted going in and we came out the other side with just that. I wrote the songs (Tom and I co-wrote the title track), and he and these great players took it from there. He didn’t change the tunes much, but got the very most out of them I think. It was really a magical experience.

"Making music is among the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had, and God willing, will continue to have. Working with talented people who feel the same way is special. The economics of it all however can be a serious challenge." (Randy Lee Riviere / Photo © by Jeff Fasano)

Is there a message you are trying to convey with your songs/music? What is the driving force behind your continuous support for your art?   

In addition to all the music over the years and the songs I’ve written, I’m a wildlife biologist. What this really means is I care a lot about the American landscape and its wildlife. There’s a special place in my heart for the West where I grew up, went to school, and have explored in many ways. I’m always ranting about something in my records. Humans have laid such a heavy hand on so much of this country, particularly rivers and streams. The title track of Concrete Blues speaks to the impacts of dams on watersheds in Western America. Let’s just look at California for instance. There are over 1,300 dams in the state … every river, except one I think, has at least one dam on it. In some cases, ALL the water in these watersheds has been taken for metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles and huge-scale monocultural agriculture. Rivers/streams provide some of the most diverse and important wildlife habitats on this planet. For everything: fish, birds, mammals and on and on. Plus it’s really cool to float down them in the watercraft of your choice! Obviously, all of this dies when the water is taken away. I did this tune on my last album, Blues Sky, called “Riverdale.” There’s a lyric: “there ain’t no river at Riverdale”. A true story. Concrete Blues is a continuation of this sad saga.

Why do you think that the Blues/Rock music continues to generate such a devoted following?

Well, Blues and Rock can go together like mountain thunderstorms in the summertime! Consider ZZ Top. Back when, I really didn’t consider them a Blues Rock band … they were Rock! Particularly in those earlier Tres Hombres days.  The Blues nexus with Rock was so complete it was seamless. If you have Blues on your mind, there it is. If it’s Rock, it’s certainly there. It was Rock in those days for me. And still is apparently with an increasing love for the Blues. I think the Blues is a great way to deliver ideas. I’m hooked!

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?                       (Randy Lee Riviere / Photo © by Jeff Fasano)

Making music is among the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had, and God willing, will continue to have. Working with talented people who feel the same way is special. The economics of it all however can be a serious challenge. But with me, let’s put it this way … if I had to rob banks to keep doing it, I would rob banks! There’s a serious need to get more money directly into the pockets of songwriters/artists, etc., so we can simply keep doing it. The folks love lots of this music, but there are so many layers of costs involved with our bringing the music to them. As an artist, if you’re ‘lucky’ enough to be on a label, some of those costs may be fronted to artists, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay it back! The ‘sparkle’ of being on a label is fading I think. There are more and more people just going out on their own; as long as they can, anyway. People don’t buy albums/CDs anymore … nor even download tunes. So that leaves you with streaming, which is so paltry it’s not worth even talking about. There’s some income involved with touring, but probably not if you fully consider all the costs to do it … paying the guys, housing the guys, feeding the guys, transportation. For most of us, good luck with that. Building a fan base is critical, and getting out there is important for that. Maybe your peeps will stream some songs and buy a t-shirt. But again … there’s always those banks!

As a wildlife biologist…In your opinion, what is the biggest revolution which can be realized today? What do you think the major changes will be in near or far future of the world?

Environmentally speaking, there are countless challenges out there across much of the ground that exists on this planet. Habitat loss has been extreme and often complete.  Climate change is certainly real. Anyone that spends much of their time outside should know that. I’m just focusing on one of these issues with Concrete Blues: The impacts of dams on awesome historical rivers and their watersheds in the American West. I’m working on a more detailed narrative about this subject for the website. I think here we should just talk about what a cool song it is! I do think one revolution we need to have, quickly, is to find ways to actually talk to each other again. Have discussions about these and so many other problems without feeling like we need to know what everyone’s political affiliation is. See if people share particular ideology; if not, any conversation or contact at all is prohibited. To address problems we have to talk about them, don’t we? Not just talk to ourselves in our own little groups. This sickness has descended on this country. I think we should be seriously worried about it, all of us. Maybe, in an attempt to get a grip on an impending disaster, a good place to start would be finding truly independent sources to get the news. They exist. Certain people want to keep us divided so we will vote in particular ways. 

Life is more than just music, is there any other field that has influence on your life and music?                                            (Randy Lee Riviere / Photo © by Jeff Fasano)

We have a little farm in Montana where we raise Berkshire hogs and other four-leg-eds. Sell meat to fancy restaurants in Seattle. Most everything I do involves being outside in one way or another. Fishing. I need to do more hiking again. Just take the time. Or driving around America - quite a bit with my stock trailer. There are three main routes between our Montana and Tennessee places … and I like alternating between the three. Man, I love this country. The huge open space that still exists in places. The farms, the small towns, even some of the bigger ones that let me get on through them in a hurry! Yeah, I’m a road warrior.

It's almost embarrassing to say, but I love “porchin’”: sitting out on the porch in Tennessee in all times of day/night … listening to cicadas, watching fireflies, bird-watching (I actually have this song “Bird Watchin’”) lol. Maybe I am getting old, but there are a lot of songs to be had, and are showing up out there. On my many road trips, working out there with the hogs, reading history, meeting, watching and trying to get a feel for what’s going on with people in this country. And paying close attention to what’s happening to our land. Montana is beautiful. And we’re in a good spot. A Grizzly Bear took a couple of our animals a couple years back. Fish and Game put him down after I begged them not to. I’ll never get over that. It wasn’t his fault that we and lots of others parked ourselves right in the middle of an ancient corridor of theirs. What a tragedy. I’ve been thinking of a new song, “The Bear,” or something like that. It’s just hard. This stuff affects me deeply.

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