News & Reviews

Best of Western New York: Album Reviews by Bob Silvestri

Randy Lee Riviere – Blues Sky.

Roots and blues artist Randy Lee Riviere has been making music for nearly twenty years now splitting his time between his Montana farm and another home he keeps in Nashville to be closer to the music business side of things. For his latest album titled Blues Sky he headed to Nashville to record with Grammy winner producer and multi instrumentalist Kevin McKendree and the result is an eleven track collection of gritty swampy rockers. McKendree (electric guitars/keyboards/vocals) put together a stellar ensemble of musicians to assist Riviere (acoustic guitar/vocals) for these sessions including Kenneth Blevins (drums), David Santos (bass) and the McCrary Sisters (backing vocals). Highlights off of Blues Sky include the gritty rocker “American Redoubt”, the tight “You’re So Kind”, the swampy groove of “Do Or Don’t”, the steady as she goes “Needles”, the electrifying “Old Country’s Son”, a searing “What You Know About Pain?”, the hard country rocker “Joseline” and the Gospel ballad and LP closer “Cold Cold River”. If you like hard charging blues and roots rockers Randy Lee Riviere’s latest Blues Sky is right in your wheel house.