Blue-collar rock n’ roll stalwarts J. Roddy Walston And The Business are preparing to drop their first full-length for ATO Records, Essential Tremors, on September 10. This week, to whet your appetite for the main course that is soon to come, they released the first single from that album, “Heavy Bells.” And you better batten down the hatches, because good lord, this song smokes.
Blue-collar rock n’ roll stalwarts J. Roddy Walston And The Business are preparing to drop their first full-length for ATO Records, Essential Tremors, on September 10. This week, to whet your appetite for the main course that is soon to come, they released the first single from that album, “Heavy Bells.” And you better batten down the hatches, because good lord, this song smokes. Having settled in Richmond threee years ago after relocating from their original home base in Baltimore, J. Roddy and the boys have been slowly but surely working their way into the spotlight, and are prepared to crash the big time with their upcoming album.
Being labelmates with Drive-By Truckers and Lucero is a perfect fit for the Business, who dish out a heaping helping of Southern boogie on “Heavy Bells.” The boot-stomping rhythm, dirty-sweet guitar riffs, and passionate hollered vocals from Roddy will take listeners back to the days of classic 70s musclecar jams by the likes of Foghat, Humble Pie, or The Faces–and never mind that those groups were all actually British. I also hear a lot of Led Zeppelin in the Bonham-style thudding drums, and I can’t imagine anyone’s gonna complain about that, right? Southern or British, 70s or 2010s, what this track really has going for it is some good old bloozy hard-rock power. You’ll want to play it a dozen times. So hey, be our guest:
And if streaming isn’t good enough for ya, if you have to burn this track to a CD-R so you can blast it on your car stereo all weekend (trust me, we don’t blame you), then head on over to Rolling Stone, where they’ve got an exclusive free download waiting for you: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/heavy-bells-by-j-roddy-walston-the-business-free-mp3-20130711
If you missed it the first time around, be sure and check out our recent feature story about J. Roddy Walston And The Business right here: https://rvamag.comarticles/full/17349/rva-no-11-j-roddy-walston-the-business
And keep an eye out for their new album, Essential Tremors, coming September 10 from ATO Records. If one track is this good, imagine how awesome the whole album’s gonna be!
