The Reverb Brothers is a six-piece band that blends roadhouse, roots country, blues, jug, New Orleans, R&B, rock & roll and old time jazz into a stew we call juke joint swamp rock.
The Reverb Brothers' music is an exuberant, high energy, improvisational interplay of acoustic and electric instruments with lots of vocals -- raunchy and ragged, but right. Our set lists blend inventive originals with obscure covers from the American songbook of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.
Our material has evolved through an almost “academic†(or merely obsessive) quest for the music and artists our childhood musical heroes were shaped by. Our gods (people like the Stones, the Kinks, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash) didn’t just pop out of a vacuum … they were kids who grew up listening to midnight radio shows featuring music by guys like Muddy Waters, Riley Pucket, Richard “Rabbit†Brown, Little Willie John, Big Bill Broonzy, Percy Mayfield, Jimmie Rogers and Slim Harpo. These guys, and hundreds of others like them, rocked juke joints, hayrides, minstrel shows and street corners from Texas to Florida, eventually spreading across the US, mixing jazz, blues, country, gospel and jug into the thing that eventually came to be known as rock and roll.
The Reverb Brothers are all veterans of the Northwest roots music scene. After a period of line-up changes, the band finally hit on a permanent roster that clicked:
Claes Almroth: keyboards, mouth harp, lead vocals
Doug Marx: acoustic guitar, lead vocals
Allan Lemley: electric guitar, back-up vocals
Dave "Gutbucket" Duffield: blues cornet, flugelhorn
Keith Richard McCarthy: electric bass, upright bass
Vince Adame: drums
The Reverb Brothers were hired as the "Eagle Time" band for Fridays from 5:30pm-7:30pm at the legendary White Eagle Saloon (836 N Russell St in Portland, OR) about three years ago. The band also plays at The Green Dragon Brewpub Bistro, The Laurelthirst Public House, The Muddy Rudder, The Mock Crest Tavern as well as at events, festivals and private parties.
There are four tracks presented here from our recently released EP "For the Festival". It is available at our shows or by contacting us through MySpace. The 8 song EP costs a mere $5.00 dollars, making it a better deal than I-Tunes. Take that, Steve Jobs.
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