About the Band
“Y’all got that river beat…” describes Andrew Trube, of the Greyhounds, after a show late one night.
The St. Louis area-based ensemble known as Al Holliday & The East Side Rhythm Band has begun their journey with a prolific decade, working all along the way to articulate a message, interpretation and reflection of American humanity and music; into an earth-shaking vision that stands tall - with roots that run deep – from Early R&B and Soul, through Americana and songwriting tradition, always inspired and always with a feeling, telling a heartfelt perspective in music, often examining the experiences, trials and tribulations, we can only describe altogether as: uniquely American.
The band has earned it’s reputation amongst their storied region’s premier original performing and recording acts, weaving together the very fabrics on American music into a potent, useable, relevant form that is as authentic as it is funky, all from the vantage point of a true, overlooked home of the Blues, Soul, and original “Rock & Roll” on the Mississippi River, bringing along our specifically Midwest swing, intensity, and “low-down” piano sound.
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The newest release “all I want”, started in the dark early days of the pandemic as a testament and love letter to our fellow working and everyday people (the multi-racial working class) experiencing again, a dilemma we found in our home, as head-scratchingly specific to our country, with no universal health care – amongst the chaos and lives lost.
The message contained also began forming as a coherent everyman’s humble take and political ideology, outside the common paradigms and false dualities that are propagated by corporate news outlets and perhaps even more assisted by social media by its’ very own design. In spite of all of this, shining through, is the ultimate message of faith in the members of our community – our “fellow man”, i a simple reminder to love one another.
“I KNOW THAT WE’RE GNA FIND A WAY” is a statement to all of the people who are working hard to get by, to say, “We see you. This music recognizes you and we are with you, and know how hard things can be for everyone to make ends meet. It was really inspired by all of the members of our community – namely NYC train drivers, but essential workers, family members, health care workers - who did unbelievable things, especially in some hard and strange times, making a way out of no way at all. So this song is in that spirit – and also narrates the spirit of that moment for us all – and all but comes out and says “what the hell?”, a recurring theme for us all during that time and of course continuing this decade.
Both songs, “PRISONER IN THE 3rd DEGREE” and “JUST CAN’T SAY”, sound the alarm on what doctors now call “diseases of despair” – deaths from SUICIDE, HEROIN, ALCOHOL and other such topics that have been rising killers, and increasingly dangerous for ALL Americans and a sign of hopelessness that we hope and know is possible to turn around if recognized and treated properly with policy and better conditions on the ground for everyday people
Along the way on numbers like these, the message continues to try to paint the picture of this experience in full, by touching other subjects, ranging from mass incarceration and prison labor, to class consciousness, to the pushing back against the technology paradigm with monolithic, and often poisonous social media companies.
The title track, and finale of the album, “ALL I WANT”, looms large, invoking deep feelings and then, in the second act, invoking the very name of the Delmar Divide, juxtaposing with our own nation’s divide, dreaming of a day such things and only in remembered stories of our past, instead of our present reality for many of the “least of these”.
With the release of this project, Al Holliday & The East Side Rhythm Band adds the newest chapter in their canon of topical and inspired works, recorded live with a full band, inspired by the greats, and carrying the music on to the next generations.