We had the pleasure of chatting to our friends These Wicked Rivers at The Long Road a little while back, about their step into the country scene and upcoming [now announced] new album! Check it out below!

How was the set?

Aaron: Really good! Obviously it’s a different genre of festival than what we’re used to. But with the next record we’ve started writing a few more country styles, so it felt like a nice bridging of the gap. But we went down really well!

Rich: Yeah, I was worried we were gonna be a bit too heavy.

Aaron: I do remember mentioning it as a concern.

Rich: As I said, just trust in the rock, Aaron! It will provide, and that’s exactly what happened.

I definitely saw some like Cadillac Three merch, it brought all the rockier country fans down.

Aaron: I think a few people said it was a breath of fresh air to have something a bit different. There’s a lot of country artists and we’re a bit more blues rock. We went down really well and we all really enjoyed it!

How did it come about, playing here?

Rich: Just one through the agent! We’re local lads to her, but because it’s not really our scene none of us have been before, so it was really nice to get an opportunity to come and check it out. It’s absolutely beautiful, amazing grounds and a really good vibe!

Aaron: It suits the character of the band. We’re very much about people connecting and all that positiveness. The festival feels like it has that similar energy to it. And everyone’s walking around in hats and boots, we fit in!

I was starting to panic when you first came on that I didn’t see a lamp, but there seems to be more and more each time. I haven’t seen the globe before!

Aaron: The trouble is when you add something you then can’t do a gig without it. We did a fly gig where we played in France on Tuesday, and even then the promoter went out and got us some lamps! We never could escape them!

Yeah, I imagine the band van’s getting quite full now, right?

Rich: Yeah, well headline stuff we need two vans now because we have so much furniture to cart around to each show.

Aaron: We have to leave guitars just to bring all the rest!

I saw your gig in France on social media, it looked sick!

Rich: It was amazing! You never know how things like this are gonna go. We were headlining the night and it was beautiful, you could see the sea from the stage, lovely weather, and it was a good crowd there!

Aaron: About 600/700 people! We’ve had it when we toured Europe before but the council pay for it as a community thing. It’s such a cool thing and we’re just happy to be involved! The band before us were quite comfy, then we went out and did our thing and people seemed to really enjoy it!

Rich: It’s tough though. Think we worked a full day Monday, drove down Monday night, flew crack Tuesday, played the festival Tuesday, stayed Wednesday, flew back Wednesday night, work Thursday Friday!

Aaron: But it is festival season, and all the shows have been great! We’ve had a really good summer, and obviously we’re back out on the road in November again! Around the UK with The Virginmarys as support. It’ll be a cracking week, we love them lads!

Rich: Other than that we‘re looking at recording the new album. It’s already written so hopefully in November we’ll record that. I can’t wait!

Aaron: We’ve been writing for a while, and it’s so hard writing while being on the road, you don’t get much time to do it. In between we’ll be together and writing. We’re really pleased with the record we’ve put together so we’re ready to hit the studio now and bring it to life.

Is there much else you can say about the album?

Rich: I think the second album, Force of Nature, was a funny one as a lot of the songs on there had been hanging around for a while. A couple had been on early EPs, a couple I’d had in my back pocket for eight-ten years. Whereas this album, it’s all new material, it’s all stuff that’s been written the last two years. Because of that we started to really click and find our sound. The new album will be a bit more representative of the band we are now.

Aaron: It’s the evolution of the band, really. A couple of the songs we’ve been playing live, we did one today, we put it in the set and it’s always gone down so well we can’t take it out! People have now started to sing it and know it in the set, which is really good! We’re really excited!

You did a church tour earlier this year, how was that? Was the sound pretty good?

Rich: It was, yeah! I was a little concerned about it because I’ve been to a few gigs and the sound doesn’t always travel. But we’ve got our own people doing the sound and they did a cracking job. A lot of these places are built with the acoustics in mind. It was a more enhanced sound but less people can be there, so it was very intimate by nature.

Aaron: It was a really good energy. I’m thinking of that first show we did that inspired the tour and thinking how amazing it was to be playing in a packed church. That’s what churches should be, bringing people together to celebrate something that’s higher than ourselves. I think it suited the vibe of the band and everything we stand for. It was a good run!

Rich: One of our band rooms was a bell tower!

Aaron: A couple of solos in pulpits. It was different, but a good different!

Rich: It’s not easy, though. It’s harder work than doing normal venues. But when you look back on it at the end, there’s some incredible photos and videos! It’s worth putting the extra effort in, I think.

Any goals for a five year plan?

Aaron: We tend not to think too much more than a year ahead. The train’s going so fast and we’re always on it, we just try to cling on and see what happens! Try to do everything we do with love and supporting each other and just try and enjoy it.

Rich: Every year we’ll do some sort of touring in Europe and in the UK, festivals. It’s about ticking those boxes. But next year will be the launch campaign for the album, and the year after I think we’ll just see how album goes!

Are you interested in playing more shows to this sort of crowd?

Rich: Yeah! We want to get out to as many people as possible and the scene that we’ve been associated with a while, the classic rock scene, we’ve done a lot of those festivals now, a lot of those people know us, so it’s nice to dip our toes in the blues scene and the country scene. Build that fanbase and get the name out there!

Aaron: We’re quite good as a band really because we have heavier songs, more country songs coming through, so we can kinda dip into a few different places and still be ourselves. We just go out and do Rivers and hopefully people dig it, which they same to!

Yeah, I’ve seen you guys a few times now and it fit just as perfectly here in a more country environment!

Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of?

Rich: We have a couple we’d love to support; Blackberry Smoke, Rival Sons.

Aaron: Black Stone Cherry were big for me growing up, those first two albums were massive.

Rich: Skynyrd too if they’re listening!

For us it’s just getting out in front of more people. With those bands, as much as we love them, we think it would be a great platform for us too!