“WE SMELL A LOT BETTER THAN WE DID TEN YEARS AGO”
Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday’s handlebar moustache – part Poirot, part Captain Hook – is impressive. It’s fair to say it’s made him one of rock’s more recognisable figures. The Ray Brown suits and striking Gibson Firebird guitars also help.
Jay Buchanan joins us looking similarly chic in a long coat and matching boots. The singer delights in customising clothes from high-end designers, although years of dues paying in rock’s underworld mean he’s relaxed in today’s grungier settings while the Record Company (Rival Sons’ support tonight at London’s Brixton Academy) sound-check downstairs.
To put it simply, Rival Sons put rock’n’roll back on the map at the start of a decade that seemed to have forgotten it. Since then they’ve rekindled classic rock fans’ passion for new music, and raked in fans from younger generations. Most recently they were signed to Atlantic Records for this year’s game-raising Feral Roots.
How do your pre-show habits today compare to those of ten years ago?
I’ve never really been one to warm up vocally, except for maybe screaming a couple of
