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Kurt Riley w/ Viva Mayhem and Vee Da Bee!

Fri, Dec 15 - 9:00 pm

kurt riley viva mayhem live music ithaca the range twithaca

Born an Army brat, Kurt Riley has been on the road all his life. Relocating from state to state often as a boy, he turned to art and fiction as solace from the loneliness that life granted. Stemming from a conservative upbringing, he sought an escape from that stifling mindset; the exodus was granted at fourteen years old, when he discovered The Rolling Stones. Further galvanized by Delta blues, Chess Records, and classic R&B, Riley taught himself how to sing and play both the guitar and harmonica a year later. 

Subsequently, enthralled by Fifties rock and roll and the brilliant groups of the British Invasion, he began composing original songs of his own in earnest. Along the way, he added piano, synthesizer, drums, maracas, castanets, tambourine, bass guitar and slide guitar to his palette, composing increasingly melodic, richly interwoven pop songs. Riley's influences grew to include glam rock, Moroccan ritual music, new wave, 1930s pop standards, and Eighties post-punk. All of these and more informed a rich, diverse style of songwriting, which combines disparate elements in new ways while preserving the rockabilly energy and Delta blues grit that first inspired him in the first place.

Cover: Free!