The Ries Brothers (Charlie and Kevin Jordan Ries, pronounced rees), two South Florida brothers in their early 20s, release a new reggae remix of their single “Take It Back,” featuring the legendary Julian Marley - plus a host of younger contemporaries from the burgeoning American reggae rock scene including E.N Young, Kash’d Out, Gary Dread (The Movement), Bumpin Uglies, Little Stranger and Jaime Hinckson. The original track was released on their sophomore album, Paint Your Emotion in September 2020 on Silverback Music’s independent label Controlled Substance Sound Labs. “Take It Back” (Reggae Remix) is now available on all digital platforms. To listen, click HERE.
The Ries Brothers wanted to give back to the community that has been so good to them, and a motivating factor of “Take It Back” (Reggae Remix). With Reggae Rise Up Florida postponed, Brothers Charlie and Kevin played each instrument on the song, as well as produced the track entirely during quarantine. They then reached out to friends in the reggae community to collaborate virtually during last year’s lockdown. Honored to be able to work with legendary Julian Marley for the first time, they are hoping to give back to their fans as a gift until they can get back to touring.
“We always had the idea to make a reggae remix of the original track. The night before we were going to record our album Paint Your Emotion, we were messing with this song and stripped it down to just bass and drums. We felt this beat would be perfect to give to artists and let them do their thing - write and record a verse, with the main theme of love in mind. We hit up a bunch of our friends in the scene with the idea to create the ultimate collaboration.” - Kevin Jordan Ries
The duo released their second full-length album, Paint Your Emotion on Controlled Substance Sound Labs on September 18, 2020. The album was produced by John Agnello (Screaming Trees, Dinosaur JR, Patti Smythe) and leans towards alternative rock showcasing the energy one would find at The Ries Brothers live show. Paint Your Emotion includes nine of ten tracks written by the brothers, and one alongside Nathan Joel Feinstein of Iya Terra. It explores universally shared emotions - love, anxiety, loneliness, even depression, through the brothers’ upbeat road tested cross-genre sonic blend. To listen, click HERE.
Most recently, the band released their official music video for “Troubadour” off their full-length album featuring Iya Terra. Watch HERE.
In a recent interview with the brothers (“Sincerity is the Key”), American Songwriter noted that this embrace of a more classic sound might be exactly what everyone could use right now:
“While the sunny shores of Florida are home to many a famous pop punk, alt. rock, and emo band, The Ries Brothers (R-EE-s) of Clearwater, FL instead felt compelled to make music in the stylistic veins of more laid back genres like blues rock, funk, and reggae. Given the current state of the world, with people all over the U.S. contending with stores of pent-up anxiety and bouts of cabin fever from months of quarantine, there’s something to be said for turning to melodies of a more relaxed and easy going mood.”
What was simply a passion turned into a career when The Ries Brothers were discovered by the band Chicago and asked to go on tour with them at the young ages of 18 and 15. Since then, they have played more than a thousand shows and toured nonstop ever since; bringing their experience working alongside artists including G Love, Stick Figure, 311, Pepper, Iration, Hirie, Galactic and Butch Trucks. Well, that is - up until March 2020 when they were pulled off the road due to COVID-19. Although they have been off the road since last year, they have been able to create a series of collaborative videos with members of The Lumineers, Gary Clark Jr., Steve Miller Band and Iration and hoping to release soon.
The Ries Brothers have been named as a breakout artist by Creative Loafing, a favorite band by The Tampa Bay Times, and were two out of 25 selected from the state of Florida to participate in the exclusive Los Angeles Grammy Museum’s Music Revolution Project.
