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SALT LAKE CITY — Green River Blues has been playing its hard-hitting blues rock around the Salt Lake area and the United States for a couple years, but is now recording its first full-length album, set to release this spring.
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard Cory began Green River Blues as a solo project a number of years ago as a side project while playing in a four-piece band. At that time, drummer and friend Jordan Oman came back to Salt Lake City after playing in a metal band in Chicago.
“We just started jamming together without really any direction,” Cory said. “My style was a lot softer. Me being blues and him being metal was just meshing our styles together. And that kind of just became what we are today.”
Eventually Cory separated from his four-piece band and started playing with Oman full-time as Green River Blues.
They played as a two-piece band for a couple years, playing regularly in Salt Lake City as well as touring around the United States. During this time, they also recorded a three-song EP, which due to certain difficulties took around two years to record.
“In all reality it was a great thing because we came so far as a band over those two years,” Cory said.
Last spring, the duo added bassist Sierra Wilson to the band. They met her after one of their shows in Salt Lake and soon began playing regularly. Cory said Wilson instantly added a depth to the band that wasn’t there in its previous work, and it soon began touring as a three-piece.
It didn’t slow down playing and touring until this fall, when the group decided to work in earnest to release a full-length album, which it has been recording in Cory’s home studio.
2015 looks to be a busy year for the band. It has its album set to release this spring, with two music videos as well as a live footage video. The group doesn’t look to be slowing down on touring, with shows set around the West Coast and in Texas.
As well as these live shows, it will continue playing regularly all over Salt Lake; an area that has helped the band grow and cultivate its sound
“There’s so much potential here and there are so many good musicians,” Cory said. “I’ve become so much better because I’ve learned so much from the people around me. I love the music scene in Salt Lake. I think the local scene doesn’t get as much love or attention as it could.”
Green River Blues’ next show will be Thursday, Jan. 15, at Kilby Court. You can listen to its EP at bandcamp.com.
Brock Allen is a Montanan and a communications student at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Formerly a KSL.com intern, he regularly contributes as a music writer. Contact him at olaf.sant6@gmail.com.
