The Ries Brothers release “Troubadour,” a stand-out preview of their upcoming LP ‘Paint Your Emotion,’ out September 18 on CSSL/Megaforce Records.
“Troubadour” joins a list of classic, bittersweet odes to life on the road made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Travelin’ Band”), Bob Seger (“Turn the Page”), Journey (“Faithfully”), Jackson Browne (“The Load-Out”), and other staples of American rock ‘n’ roll - and it was written by two brothers in their teens and early 20s from south Florida.
The song is not a fantasy, either. Charlie (25 years old) and Kevin Jordan (21) Ries have been performing for most of their lives, first playing small bars during puberty and then touring with Chicago and sharing bills with G Love, 311, and more just a few years later. They’ve paid their dues from road testing their Millennial take on classic rock, where the genre is less important than the song’s soul. The life of a troubadour, however, is timeless -- the rewards and costs of leaving your loved ones in order to provide for them. Over a thousand shows later, Charlie and Kevin Jordan understand better than most people the pleasures and loneliness of living your life outside of cars, hotels, and venues.
“This song is a story about a touring musician traveling throughout the south, playing ‘any hangout that will let him in to play,’” says Charlie on the autobiographical lyrics, which follow a troubadour trying to make enough money to catch a (figurative and literal) train home. “But as it states in the song, ‘home is wherever you are.’ Home itself refers more-so to a person than a place. There isn't a distance too long if you really love someone. You'll do whatever it takes to go out and make money to provide for them, and then make it back home to them as soon as possible.”
“Troubadour” also features a special co-write by Iya Terra’s Nathan Joel Feinstein, a Ries Brothers tourmate who also appears on the song with a feature verse. Listen to “Troubadour” now on Parade, which compares the song’s funky wah-wah guitars to Santana and declares that it “brings the feel of an outdoor summer concert straight to you for a much needed living room hang”: parade.com/1073092/laurawhitmore/the-ries-brothers-troubador
Growing up, Charlie and Kevin Jordan wanted to be their own band so badly that they learned to play multiple instruments as early as middle school. By early high school, the two were performing multiple nights a week at bars in South Florida. 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, the brothers toured nonstop ever since until March 2020 when they were pulled off the road due to COVID-19. Prior, they were performing with Stick Figure, Iration, Galactic, Butch Trucks and others. ‘Paint Your Emotion’ was produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Social Distortion), and its previously released singles include “No More Lonely Nights,” “Save You,” and “Recluse.”
‘Paint Your Emotion’ tracklist:
1. Tennessee
2. Save You
3. Recluse
4. Take It Back
6. My Friends
7. Troubadour (feat. Iya Terra)
8. Broadway
9. Hold On
10. Morphine
