Southern California-based roots rockers Robert Jon & The Wreck has released the title track of their just-released new album Ride Into The Light, as their latest single.
Born from a powerful lyrical collaboration between lead guitarist Henry James Schneekluth and frontman Robert Jon Burrison, the song’s structure, guitar parts, and melody were already firmly set in Schneekluth’s mind before he introduced it to the band. But what makes the song special is the way it captures the band’s return to touring and working full-time, a journey made all the more meaningful following a particularly challenging and uncertain period.
“I had been sitting on the musical idea for a while, and being able to go back to working and touring full time after a really dark and uncertain period inspired the words,” recalled Schneekluth. With ‘Ride Into The Light’, listeners are treated not just to the sounds of a band back in full swing, but to the triumph of returning to the road and to the studio after a difficult few years.
Packed with blistering blues-rock and sun-soaked Americana ballads, Ride Into The Light is said to be as high-octane as it is soul-stirring. Reinvigorating their traditional production process, The Wreck teamed up for this release with the legendary producers Don Was (John Mayer, Bonnie Raitt), Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton), Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, The Black Crowes), guitar maestros Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith (Marc Broussard, Eric Gales, Joanne Shaw Taylor).
The band’s new material is said to find them reaching a new level of musicianship and songwriting prowess, delivering a fresh take on rock & roll while evoking classic artists like The Allman Brothers Band, Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The band has released several singles, ahead of the new album, most recently ‘Don’t Look Down‘. You can stream that single here and check out the video right here at RAMzine. It offer fans a powerful encouragement to keep their eyes on the prize and focus on the positive.
“’Don’t Look Down’ was produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith at Sunset Sound,” frontman Robert Jon Burrison revealed. “Lyrically it’s really a get pumped type of song, offering encouragement and telling the listener to keep their head up and focus on what’s ahead. This one was a blast to record, as Joe was kind enough to bring some amazing vintage guitars and amps, including a 1959 Gibson Les Paul and a Dumble Amp, both of which can be heard on this track. We also had the pleasure of recording this with legendary session keyboardist, Jeff Babko.”
The video for ‘Don’t Look Down is a foot tapping, driving rocker, with up close film footage of Burrison and lead guitarist Henry James Schneekluth between cutting to assorted adventure sport activities.
It followed previous single ‘West Coast Eyes’, a feel-good summer anthem and future classic as their latest, also produced by Bonamassa and Smith and with Jeff Babko involved. The song itself was written in Nashville, Tennessee while the band was on tour last year.
“We met with the legendary Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy), who’s written songs with a lot of great artists,” recalled Burrison. “A few weeks later we went into Sunset Sound in LA with Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith as our producers…[and] it evolved into a bit of tribute to the LA session musician scene through the years, combining elements from a few different decades and wound up being a really fun sonic experiment. Joe and Josh were also great to be around, providing a lot of fun musical suggestions and of course some top-notch vintage guitar gear!”
You can stream ‘West Coast Eyes’ here and check out the video for it right here at RAMzine – Listening to the song you’ll find yourself warm with an inner glow, whether the sun’s out or not, on this wistfully melodic Eagles-styled number with Robert Jon & The Wreck doing what they do best, by making you feel you know the lady-in-question sung about intimately yourself.
Ride Into The Light includes the four tracks from the band’s recent dynamic EP release One Of A Kind, that received rave reviews from all over the world and helped catapult the band’s awareness into new heights. The full track listing for the new album is: ’Pain No More’, ‘Who Can You Love’, ‘Come At Me’, ‘One Of A Kind’, Bring Me Back Home Again’, ‘West Coast Eyes’, Don’t Look Down’ and ‘Ride Into The Light’.
You can order Ride Into The Light here and get your chance to see them on tour in the UK again this coming September.
