Forever Goldrush<\/a> might be immediately recognizable \u2014 they\u2019ve been playing their poignant and sometimes rowdy brand of Americana since \u201897 \u2014 ROADS (their name styled in all capital letters) might not immediately sound familiar. Though the band name is new, the faces onstage are far from it. Mike Curry has been performing since the mid-80s, serving as a drummer for acts such as Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers and Sacramento\u2019s surf-rock sensation, Jackpot, while drummer Chris Grijalva has played with Big Trouble, Big Boss Graffiti and Love Symphony.\u00a0<\/p>\nThough Curry has been the man behind the drums for the majority of his career, ROADS has been a project where he takes a turn at being the frontman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a drummer for the entirety of my successful musical career,\u201d Curry reflected. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always been playing guitar, I\u2019ve always written songs. And back in about, I\u2019d say, 2010, I was in Jackpot, but I was also in a band called Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, and we were traveling a lot. Both of these bands were real roots-y, and I love roots-y, but I grew up a kind of rock and roll guy. I thought, man, I want to start a rock band of my own. So, 2010 is when I really started writing the songs, but it wasn\u2019t until 2017 or 2018 that I got a band together and actually started playing around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally called King, the band eventually changed into ROADS, which reflected a perspective shift in Curry\u2019s songwriting. The project started off as a clear love letter to the music and mindset of 70s and 80s rock acts like Kiss and The Cult. Those were Curry\u2019s earliest influences.<\/p>\n
\u201cKiss was the reason I woke up to music in general when I was a little kid back in the 70s,\u201d Curry explained.<\/p>\n
As time went on, Curry\u2019s songwriting began to tilt toward other focuses, with influences like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones coming into the mix. Grijalva, a journeyman musician on the scene, helped hone the final sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the songs are written by Mike, and then we all contribute to the recordings,\u201d noted Grijalva. \u201cI\u2019ve done some arrangements for some of the songs, but primarily it\u2019s all Mike. His lyrics are very story-based, on a personal level. He has a lot of influences, so I think he touches on a lot of his influences \u2014 and that could be everything from country music to 80s metal or Tom Petty. It\u2019s all over the place, but in the end it sounds like it\u2019s a Mike Curry song. It sounds truly original.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s sound evokes an earlier era of sonic revolt and experimentation. As soon as the first track of their self-titled album starts, it\u2019s clear ROADS is playing the kind of rock and roll remembered from when it dominated the radio waves; when the only time music was \u2018streaming\u2019 was if a compact disc had been tossed into a nearby tributary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no-frills American rock and roll,\u201d Grijalva said. \u201cIf that\u2019s your cup of tea or you\u2019ve never tasted it before, this is what we\u2019re serving. It\u2019s just straight up storytelling rock songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though each member of the band is a working musician with more than a few acts between them, ROADS has become the main priority with the release of their EP. The group isn\u2019t eyeing a major nationwide tour any time soon, but Curry is starting to put out feelers for a trip along the West Coast to play new venues and make new fans along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re an older band, but we\u2019re not like a dad band,\u201d Curry mentioned. \u201cWe\u2019re an original music band and I think that the variety of music we have, we don\u2019t have to be big to be successful. If we can just get together on a tour, West Coast first and then start spreading across, that would be ideal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The current plan is to also increase their output of recordings available online. Rather than wait to record and put together another EP or an album, Curry is planning to release pairs of songs more frequently, to give fans and prospective fans more songs they can look forward to seeing live and sing along to at live shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been fortunate with our shows that we do have so-called repeat customers,\u201d Grijalva added. \u201cThey keep coming back, they know the songs. So, now they have it on record, you know? The record\u2019s out, it\u2019s there for them to enjoy and memorize and they can sing along at every show moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
For people looking to check ROADS out and get an idea of their sound, Curry recommends checking out the songs \u201cHelp From a Friend\u201d and \u201cBlindside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ROADS and Forever Goldrush show at the Green Room Social Club in Placerville starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 and will run until around 11 p.m. Tickets are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Upcoming double-bill will be at The Green Room Social Club in PlacervilleBy Odin Rasco A double-header of bands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[50233,121,123,122,50234,50235],"class_list":{"0":"post-90532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-forever-goldrush","9":"tag-sacramento","10":"tag-sacramento-headlines","11":"tag-sacramento-news","12":"tag-the-band-roads","13":"tag-the-sacramento-band-roads"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}