So, I know I promised updates and photos and such from my travels abroad, but alas, time was precious and experience left little time for the almighty myspace. But I have returned to the land of the free(w/ purchase of equivalent or lesser value) and my lack of steady gainful employment compels me to this worldwide addiction.

I have posted a slim selection of photos from my travels in our photo albums, so have a look if ya like.

Needless to say, the trip was a whirlwind of experiences that will take me many days if not weeks to process. I saw so much, met so many amazing people, and made many new friends, all of whom have inspired me in some form or another. Much will need to be done to set American Relay back on course, but we are getting back to work and hopefully we'll some great new sounds for y'all to enjoy real soon.

Best to our friends, fans and fam, thanks for sticking by us, you make AR possible.

AH

http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2008/09/30/american-relay-lions-lair/more-1184

Dear friends, fans,

If you didn't already know, American Relay is taking a little break.

This morning I landed in Amsterdam to begin a two month adventure in Europe and Africa. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, and I am still not fully believing that I have arrived in the auld world.

Things have been snowballing in a mighty positive direction for a few years now, but the pace really picked up starting in Oct. 2007, both for American Relay and myself personally.

For the past year, we have been traveling the west and mid-west of our broken nation, making friends, fans, and beautiful partnerships. To name all of you here would be a monumental feat, but know that your positive energy, love, and support is appreciated beyond words in a blog, and we couldn't be where we are without you. We are hoping to see all of y'all again here soon in 2009.

I will try to include some of my adventures in blogs over the next weeks, especially when it comes to the aural pleasures I will be actively seeking in Africa, and then as I chaperone the unstoppable Reverend Deadeye across Europe on his first overseas tour. Check out his dates at http://www.myspace.com/reverenddeadeye, he's in our top friends too. If you have any requests as to what you would like me to share with you, I'll gladly comply, within reason now people.

Nick and I will return to the studio in Dec.-Jan. to make our full-length follow up to 'Corn and Oil'. Can't tell ya when this'll come out, as it takes many celestial bodies to align, lots of support from a wealth of sources, and Nick and I not to kill each other to get a record done in AR fashion, but expect some new sounds, some auld sounds, and definitely some goddamn loud shit in winter '09!

Gotta get back to doing what I gotta do in this beautiful city -short guy love, respect and gratitude,

Alex

Link: http://www.inthisweek.com/articles.phparticle

West Coast Relay
American Relay seduces the left coast with their edgy blues.
by Autumn Thatcher

American Relay ain't no turkey in the straw.

There's blues, and then there is American Relay, a two-man blues-rock band based out of Denver, Colorado. American Relay consists of Nick Sullivan and Alex Hebert. Two immensely talented individuals are out to create a name for themselves by rebelling against mainstream popular music and calling on the gods of old-school blues to provide them with the inspiration to create a sound that transforms what many people expect of blues.

The yet-to-be-signed band has spent the past three years working at a grassroots level to establish a name within the world of music while simultaneously building a solid fan base. As the band prepares to head out towards Utah for part of their fourth West Coast tour, vocalist/guitarist Nick Sullivan, takes time to call IN from Colorado and explain what makes American Relay stand out from other blues bands and where he and his drummer hope to go with their career.

The upcoming tour only lasts two and a half weeks, but for Sullivan, that is plenty of time for American Relay to make a dent in the West Coast music scene. When talking to Sullivan, it becomes clear that this raspy-voiced vocalist is humbler than one might expect given his musical talent.

"Alex and I are both students of the blues so it's what we grew up on. But what we play is not your same old blues crap. We sort of exist between genres, blues and rock, old school blues and punk blues," says Sullivan as he struggles to describe the music that he and Hebert create together.

The inability for Sullivan to describe his music is most certainly understandable. Sullivan sings the blues with a bit of an edgier tone than might be expected, but the guitar seductively slides from one blues chord to the next as the drums beat a rhythm that makes you want to sit in a dark corner, while chain smoking cigarettes and drinking some bourbon. At the same time, the beats make you want to get up and dance, close your eyes, throw your head around, and get lost in the music. Whichever direction you choose to go, it doesn't matter, because the music is sexy, and you feel sexy just listening to it.

"We have a lot of gratitude and respect for the older blues artists, and we maintain a similar ethos," explains Sullivan. He adds that his lyrics come from many of the same kinds of inspirations that older blues artists used. "I write in a sort of documentarian-esque style," says Sullivan. "I write about what is going on in the present. Of course dealing with the women folk is always an inspiration, good or bad."

When asked what people can expect to see at an American Relay concert, Sullivan takes no time to respond. "A sweaty, high-energy show. We leave everything that we've got on the stage, and we keep everybody moving. Yeah, it's pretty sweaty," explains Sullivan.

The two members of American Relay know that they do not fit the mold of mainstream music, but they are hoping to open up some minds as they continue to create and play their unique music.

"Our energy sets us apart from other blues bands. We get the house rollin' before we even slip into our songs," says Sullivan.

Utah residents will get a chance to check out the hot sound of American Relay in Ogden on Friday, Sept. 5. Sullivan reveals that this is the last tour that the band will be doing for the remainder of the year, as they are planning to go back into the studio to work on their next full-length album. "After we make the album we will probably arrange another tour. Label support would be nice, as touring for us is a struggle, but until that happens, we are going to do what we have to do," says Sullivan.

Knowing that American Relay is going to keep working towards getting to the top is a comforting thought, because goddamn if we don't need a little bit of sexy blues to soothe our souls.

check this out:

http://ninebullets.net/archives/american-relay-corn-and-oil

Link:
http://ricksaunders.blogspot.com/2008/07/american-relay-brangin-hard-boogie-from.html


American Relay will be playing The Deep Blues Festival on Sunday July 20th. Nick Sullivan(guitar)and Alex Hebert(drums)took time out of their busy schedule to emerge from their bunker-like blues fortress in the bowels of Denver's historic Armory building to answer a few questions via email:

How long have you guys been playing together?

Nick Sullivan- We played our first show just over three years ago as American Relay.

Alex Hebert- Before that we spent about 8 months banging on various instruments, trying to find our dynamic. We also endured a free-jazz saxophonist (a friend and co-worker), and a fire-spinning 'harmonica player', (also a friend and co-worker.) Oh, and an early show as something called 'homage', or was it 'ohmage'? I swear we weren't hippies.

You guys compliment each other really well. Y'all are tight as hell but yr so tight that it's loose. I see that Alex plays drums as well as guitar. Which came first? and do you think that Alex's knowledge of guitar is what makes you so symbiotic?

NS- I think the symbiotic aspects of the band are based more in being a duo then anything else. Being able to fill out the sound with just drums and guitar is a big part of what we do and also how we play together. I try to play the whole guitar and what isn't filled between the guitar and the basic elements of he beat is where Al's amazing tom work comes in to keep our "wall of sound" going.

AH- Isn't Nick sweet. Compliments will get you everywhere. Early on we both discovered our strengths and limitations, through playing various styles of music we were interested in, but it always seemed that when we brought it back to the blues, or our best approximation of the blues, that things really gelled on all the levels we were looking for. As for guitar v. drums, drums came first. Guitars were always something I flirted with, but never went the distance with. Then I bought a dobro, and the raw percussive nature of it drew me in, got me inspired, led me to explore music in new ways, and has added a whole new element to our sound.

How did you happen to start playing together?

NS- We met at The University of Colorado at Denver, after had Al posted a bulletin saying that he was looking for a band, and looking for one that was more about what he didn't want to play than what he did. It wasn't clearly defined, but stated that some of his influences were R.L. Burnside and Tom Waits. I had wanted to start up a band at that time and it was music to my ears.

Had you been in bands prior to American Relay?

NS- This is the first band that I have ever played in.

AH- I have played in bands since I was a teenager. Never anything very serious, punk-rock mostly, which was a great playground for a lazy drummer with lots of energy. My favorite band was 'When Eskimos Attack'. The name says it all.

Corn and Oil was produced by dudes who had worked with Chet Atkins, Back Street Boys, and Steven Seagal. How'd that come about?

NS- We have been real fortunate to work with some amazing audio engineers in Clark Hagan and Bret Stuart. I went to school for audio engineering and was fortunate to cross paths with Clark who had just come back to Nashville after working with Chet Atkins for the last ten years of his life. He brought me in under his wing and introduced to me to a recording heritage that goes back to Elvis and Roy Orbison, old school methods that really made those records back then have an everlasting quality to them. Bret Stuart is a whole other story as he just showed up at a studio that Clark and I were both in the process of installing. He is one of those "gorillas" that engineer music to sheer you ears off. Along with mixing most of the first back street boy's records, and of course Steven Seagal's "blues" record, he also has worked with a diverse range of artists including Arturo Sandoval, Keith Richards, Run from RUN-DMC, and Rockwilder. Having Clark and Bret bring their expertise to "Corn and Oil" helped us get an old school sound that could also hang with the modern recording styles of today. It is almost impossible to replicate the recording environments used on all the classic old-school records and to get even close to that sound took a lot of engineering and gear. I think with "Corn and Oil" we came away with a record that kept it rootsy but is still a modern sounding record.

Did you get to check out Seagal's infamous guitar collection or get Kevin from BSB to give you any vocal exercises or choreography tips?

NS- I can fortunately say that we have not had any personal experience with Seagal or the BSB's. The only reason that we worked with Bret Stuart was because he wanted to escape Los Angeles/Orlando and came to Denver to get away.

How do you think your sound has changed from the time you recorded Corn and Oil in 2007 to now?

AH- Since we released the record, and I use the term 'released' lightly, we have played close to 150 shows, and done 3 west coast tours. Our experiences over the last year have definitely had a huge impact on our playing and our discovery of music. I personally find myself reaching farther and farther back into blues, gospel and early folk music, and it seeps into what I want to hear when we play. Those influences are present on a lot of the new stuff we are working on, and I think have improved our older songs too.

NS- I think we are becoming more in tune with ourselves as players and livers of the blues, as opposed to a couple of punks with instruments and some old blues records. Personally, I feel like I am more comfortable with myself, especially as a singer. I also feel very grateful to be putting out roots based music and being a part of such an important heritage. I look forward to the next record and expanding the boundaries of what blues records can sound like. We are going to be recording in some really unique rooms and that has as much of an effect as the gear you use.

y'all are playing The Deep Blues Music and Film Festival in a few weeks. what does that mean to you?

NS- Everything really. To have an event that brings together the artists that encompass the family aspect that we have within our blues/roots community is huge. I think that we are part of a musical revolution right now and I say that from the amount of reaction we get from night to night. So many people are in disbelief that we are playing this music that has such effect that they can't explain. The Deep Blues Festival gives us an event that we can rally behind and show that our strength as an artistic community is much more powerful than just the individual band.

AH- We have made a lot of new friends over the last few years, and many of them will be at this event. Some of them we get to meet for the first time in person, which is pretty exciting in our day and age of e-mail and myspace networks. This is also our first festival gig and I can't think of a better place to get our proverbial chicken wings wet. And hell, I heard you're gonna be there.

Which is reason enough for anyone to attend The DBH. cough. ahem.

what's the word on the next record?

NS- Hopefully we will start tracking in August and finish the thing in November for the holiday shopping season. In between then and now we will be trying to grow money on trees to make that happen…

Any new stuff recorded?

Not yet.

Will you be working with Clark and Bret again? Corn and Oil does have, as you say "a rootsy but still modern" sound that does a really fine job of getting you out of the garage without wiping all the grime and dust off.

AH- We are looking to release the second record at the end of the year. A couple of older songs that didn't make it onto Corn & Oil will be on there, but the rest are tunes we've been working on while on the road and over the summer. We haven't even finished writing all the songs, but I'll start cutting drum tracks and my guitar parts in August. We will take a similar approach on the new record, but we are gonna try some new things too. There will be some tracks featuring the dobro, and we'll be recording some tracks with room mics in an old Armory we call HQ in 5 Points. That'd be our hood in Denver.

NS- Clark Hagan will be on the project but Bret is back in Florida supposedly building a studio next to the biggest strip club in the world. We will be going for a the less is more philosophy on this record and I am pretty sure we can some tape for drums which is the absolute best situation while still working in the digital realm. There definitely be a guerilla style ethic on this record as far as how and where we record so it should be interesting to see how it all comes out.

Let's talk influences a bit. Your MySpace page lists everyone from Fat Possum Records' Asie Payton to Pearl Jam. I also hear a good dose of Kenny Brown in your tone Nick. How did you happpen to come to the dark side or Fat Possum related side of the blues? I know i'n my case i'm a musical explorer and I want to hear everything that exists in music at least once. But I had a hard time finding a blues artist (Howlin' Wolf being a big exception) that moved me deeply until I heard Junior Kimbrough. You talk about searching for your sound. Was there one blues artist in particular that really knocked you out and made you decide that this was the sound you were looking for?

AH- I have always liked the blues, mostly in the form of early Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, but when I heard 'Ass Pocket of Whiskey' by R.L. Burnside and the Blues Explosion, that was definitely genre busting, and led me to explore alot of the lesser known artists of the past and present. What really sealed the deal for me when it came to American Relay's sound was seeing the Juke Joint tour in 2004 with T-Model Ford, Cedric Burnside and Kenny Brown. That's when I turned to Nick and said, 'this is where it's at.'

NS- I am still in the midst of the guitar tone odyssey and am slowly dialing in how I want my guitar sound though there are still some financial obstacles to overcome in that area. Kenny Brown is for sure someone I look up to not only for his tone but his overall playing style which is super tasty and nasty at the same time. I also look up to Elmore James for his tone and style and would one day like to get into more of that acoustic-electric sound as it just has that searing soul scorchin' aspect to it.

You mention doing a lot of show in the last year. Any particular shows that really stand out? Any particularly outstanding venue the other artists should know about?

AH- Our shows here in Denver keep getting better and better, last weekend we played with the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band our 'bum-core' friends SlakJaw at the Bluebird Theater, and we had a full-on tent revival. It felt like people were embracing what was happening, letting go, sweating, that it was something larger than just some bands on stage. One of the best nights I've ever had playing music. If yer ever in the Northwest, gotta play the Axe and Fiddle in Cottage Grove. Not a lot of money in it, but its a cool venue and its run by great people. Probably our most memorable show on the road, just for the sheer chaos of the event, was in Reno at the Zephyr. The Zephyr is kind of a hippie joint, but this night the place was filled with 200 drunk punk-rockers. After people started throwing beer bottles at the walls during our set, the owner/manager got on stage, took the mic from Nick, thanked the bands, and told the audience 'get the fuck out.' That's when he got nailed in the head with a ceramic ashtray, the bartender pulled out a baseball bat, and all hell broke loose. So we played a couple more songs.

I'm sure that, like me, there are a lot of artists that you are looking forward to seeing at The Deep Blues Festival. Any artists in particular that you are excited to see?

AH- The Pack AD(BC) and Gravelroad(WA) are two of my favorite bands touring right now, its always good to see them again. I'm glad I finally get to see Bob Log III. It was about 12 years ago I randomly caught a Doo Rag show, and that shit blew me away. John Schooly finally. I'm bummed we can't make it for the first day of the fest, I really want to see T-Model again, plus the Juke Joint Duo, and Hezekiah Early and Elmo Williams.

NS- I will be happy to catch as many of the artists on the bill as I know if they on the roster then I am looking forward to seeing them.

Let's say you've got a five disc cd player. Who's on it today?

AH- Charlie Parr, Furry Lewis, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, one of the discs from 'An American Anthology of Folk Music', and some Buzzcocks for good measure.

NS- Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Willie Dixon, Jimbo Mathus and Knockdown Society, Daniel Lanois, and Antibalas.


Last good book you read?

NS- Charlie Wilson's war, EPIC.

AH- I finished 'What is the What' by David Eggers on our last tour. It's the story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, but is kind of an amalgamation of the shared experience of the thousands of people who have had to flee their homes and abandon their lives due to the violent power struggle in Sudan. It is actually an uplifting book, believe it or not, and there is some great insight on our own American society in there too.

Nick, if American Relay is the first band you've been in what were you doing prior?

NS- I kept myself busy exploring more electronic based music with drum machines and synths and also learning the audio engineering side of things. I was never really into playing in bands as I didn't find there was the right people or right musical direction so I usually just stuck to being a bedroom based guitar player up until American Relay came along.

What was the first song you mastered?

AH- Probably 'Curtain Call'. Nick came up with the riff one night, showed it to me, and I think in one session we pretty much nailed it, and it hasn't changed much since.

Do you guys come from musical families?

AH- My grandfather was a drummer in Morgan City, Louisiana, playing in Dixieland bands in the 1930's before he bought a truck stop and started raising a family. In my home growing up, music was always celebrated, even if my folks weren't necessarily musically inclined. My mom plays some guitar and piano, and I was surprised to find out how many old folk tunes she knew at a recent reunion of old family friends.

NS- To a certain degree, my parents met in a church choir and my dad has been known to play the harmonica and duclcimer.


Did you try having a bass player as you started woodshedding to find your sound or was the Never Knowing When To Shut Up Annoyance of having a harmonica player enough to turn you off to any other members?

AH- We tried a few bass players in the first year or two, and we still get bass players at shows bugging us to this day, saying things like 'Y'all sound great, but if you had a bass player...' Most of them were either too traditional, too drunk, or too tall, and we don't need anyone making us look any shorter. We did have one session early on with a friend of ours who would have been perfect, but his band wouldn't share.

Where did the name American Relay come from? are y'all super-patriots or was there a UK band called Relay or...?

NS- Well once we knew that our music was going to be based around the blues I think I personally related the relationship between the blues and the good ol' USA as powerful bond within our history and was a connection that brings a lot of pride as well. I can't say I have too many of those relationships with my country these days and so when it came to a name we wanted something that had a latent meaning rather then a more ambiguous one. It comes down to being a band that tries to connect with our American musical heritage and keep it in peoples faces as not to forget about it. Thus American Relay came around after some lengthy word play…

Last Question: For the folks we pity who have not heard you what does American Relay sound like?

AH- Remember that 'this is you brain on drugs' tv commercial from the 80's with the eggs frying in a cast iron skillet? It's like that, only Howlin' Wolf is fryin' those eggs, and he's got some bacon in the pan too. And he's on a motorcycle.

NS- Two men standing a combined 11 feet tall trying to revive the soul of American Blues rock 'n' roll with sweat, soul, and amplified fury….

Thanks guys! The DBF will be my first chance to see American Relay. Several other bands playing the fest have told me American Relay is not a band you want to have to follow. See y'all on Sunday!

Link: http://www.boulderweekly.com/20080710/overtones.html

A modern musical revival
Just sangin' and bangin' those punk rock po' boy blues
by Douglas McDaniel

On the front porch of the Bluebird Theater on Colfax, there's a neo-Depression revival underway. Just hours before the show, Denver-based band SlakJaw is describing its sound as "bumcore," and the members of the night's headlining act, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, come out of their sound check dressed in their finest washboard wear: suspenders, fedora and even a flower dress complemented by red cowboy boots.

Blues-rock duo American Relay, late from the previous night's gig in their original hometown, Steamboat Springs, enter into view of this new musical damn-nation. They spill onto the sidewalk from a compact car with their instruments and luggage. They are as friendly as plain folks at a barbecue, smiling, ready to shake hands with anyone and everyone. They are both college grads, bright-eyed, sharp, smart. But without a band bus in sight, one immediately wonders what the apocalyptic price of gas these days means for musicians on tour, the very life blood of rock 'n' roll.

The members of American Relay — guitarist Nick Sullivan, 27, with his Fu Manchu mustache and Hendrix hair, and drummer Alex Hebert, 30, looking all 1930s with, again, the Fedora — have stripped their sound down to the basics: blues, rock, maybe a little bit of punk if you're feeling categorical.

Comparing their economy to another drum-n-guitar duo, the White Stripes, Hebert muses, "We can split our winnings better..." But then, halting, looking over at Sullivan, he says… "OK, accrue the losings more easily." This dry sense of humor finds its way into the music in interesting and satisfying ways that help elevate their songs above the radio-friendly masturbation rituals produced by many mainstream artists.

Onstage, it's easy to see why American Relay's efficient sound appeals to a new generation that has gone bland on the Widespread Panic noodling of the '90s. Their brand of blues-punk is reminiscent of Neil Young's Re-ac-tor phase, of George Thorogood on steroids, of the very dhambala of the blues on speed. It's the synthesis, really, of the bluesmaster tradition that created R.L. Burnside's blistering guitar style, the great grandfather who American Relay is quick to embrace: "He's the reason we are here," belts out Sullivan at the start of their set, which calls out to every white boy and girl in the crowd: Hey, poor boy, how's it feel to really know the blues?

Sullivan and Herbert met in audio engineering class at University of Colorado-Denver, where they learned the technical ins-and-outs of the business, but the professor who really caught their attention was R.L. Burnside. His music and style had a big influence on the budding rockers.

"He was the gateway artist to what we are doing," Hebert says. "No fucking noodling or anything." Sure, he says, the '90s jam bands "did a lot for the blues, but we're taking business away from those bands."

American Relay's artwork for the 2007 album Corn & Oil conjures Depression-era roadside art deco in a post-9/11 climate. Like their music, it's an ode to tradition designed with modern sensibilities. The album sounds like acetylene sparks in the garage, like early Hendrix without the rocket fuel solos funded by '60s-era NASA. Music that finds a single, straightforward beginning and just sticks to it with razor-steadfastness, the visceral truth of rock.

There's a certain one-man-blues-band quality to it, and a true sense of gospel somehow leading back to Howlin' Wolf roots. It's as if George Thorogood had been served up for human sacrifice.

When told it sounded like they were out to digitally deconstruct that type of blues-rock influence, Sullivan says, "George Thorogood is still kicking it out, so he ain't dead just yet. And we got a lot of respect for how he does business."

Throughout the night, during the interview and after Reverend Peyton's show, the spirit and intensity of the tent revival is not so much felt as drained out through the sweat glands. At the end of the day, it feels like some kind of redemption has taken place: the audience drenched from the relentlessness worship service, the endless swinging and stomping and raising of the spirit, the cleansing...

After the show, blues brothers Sullivan and Herbert are waiting at the door for one more greet and a smile. Asked if there's some kind of religious belief system at work here, Sullivan says, "Not much of instituted religious experience growing up, but there is a definite faith in the power of roots music."

Yes, we know that as an American you get nervous when you vote for anything these days, to put yourself in the vulnerable place where you have been victimized time and time again....Florida, Ohio...it all comes rushing back in the ghostly reverberations of Al Gore, John Kerry, and the CHADs, I know I will never name my child Chad...

But redemption can be HAD my fellow people of our Front Range community and we call it the Westword Music Showcase Poll. We can honestly that you can vote for American Relay in the Blues category and you will not find yourself a disenfranchised American once again. A vote for American Relay is a vote for American stuff right? No two party system hear just a huge popularity contest that will only benefit our egos' so fear not fellow citizens! So take a couple of minutes if you can find the courage, we thank you in advance:

http://westword.com/polls/musicpoll/


Our best to you and godspeed the raw and primal roots revolution

-NS

Country+Punk=Crunk

and all this time I thought the formula was: Gold Teeth+Minimal Talent=Crunk

boy is my face red.