These Wicked Rivers

A southern rock band from Derby, with a Floyd influence thrown in, they’re ready to flow.

On the morning that Classic Rock talks to Arran Day, his band These Wicked Rivers should have been setting the satnav for Coventry, where they were due to be playing the opening show of a British tour with Ryders Creed. Covid-19 has of course torpedoed that. After spending six years getting this far, the guitarist acknowledges that it’s a disastrous time to release their debut album, Eden, yet he remains surprisingly upbeat. “Hopefully we’ll be out there again soon,” he says, smiling.

With influences including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, Black Stone Cherry, Clutch, Crobot and Cream, These Wicked Rivers play a style of music that’s been termed ‘blues-infused modern rock’. “We’re heavy and quite southern-sounding,” says Day. “I always wanted to bring back the roots of the late 1960s and 1970s music, while retaining a heavy rock edge.”

It’s a little harder to see where Pink Floyd became an inspiration, but Day explains that he’s to blame. “Gilmour is one of my guitar heroes and I’m a real pedal guy,” he explains. “I try to bring some aspects of delay and reverb – a bit of seventies dust.”

When we point out that TWR don’t sound like a band from Britain, more like one from some godforsaken Louisiana swamp, Day says with a chuckle: “Yeah. I hear that a lot.”

Approaching the recording of Eden, the band consciously extracted themselves from their comfort zone, getting out of Derbyshire and hiring a producer that they’d never met before.

“Believing in the music so much, we knew that it needed our full dedication and attention,” Day says. “So we went to Mwnci Studios in Wales for a fortnight and worked with Jethro Chaplin, who really brought out the best in us. That place was like a little hippie Utopia, and we drank a lot of red wine, living and breathing the album as we made it. I hope that whole spiritual vibe comes across.”

The results are impressive, and in April the record’s first single, Shine On, topped the Classic Rock website’s Tracks Of The Week list.

Happy to be considered a part of the UK’s New Wave Of Classic Rock, the foursome have spent the last couple of years gigging alongside Jared James Nichols, Massive Wagons, Tax The Heat, City Of Thieves and more. TWR had begun to gain traction, and then the Coronavirus hit, wiping out all immediate commitments, including a spot at the Ramblin’ Man Fair. Now,unfortunately, they must keep their powder dry until gigs are allowed again.

When asked to name his band’s dream act to tour alongside in the future, Day chooses two: “Let’s have a three-band bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Stone Cherry and ourselves,” he suggests with a grin. “They’ve never mentioned it publicly, but I know for sure that Skynyrd always wanted to play a gig in Derby. We’d be happy to put them up.”

Eden is available via www.thesewickedrivers.com

“We’re heavy and quite

southern-sounding.”