Coming Home
The Rob Ryan Roadshow
Rhythm Bomb
It’s been a few years since the last outing from The Rob Ryan Roadshow with their ‘Live At Montreux Jazz Festival’ long player. However, 2019 marks a fresh start for the band with their new album ‘Coming Home’, which is their first studio recording since 2014’s ‘Going Old School’. The latest album ‘Coming Home’ reveals the band at quite possibly their best and delivers their usual trademarks of skilful musicianship combined with versatility, not to mention a willingness to experiment when it comes to their decision-making. All such points are to be commended as The Rob Ryan Roadshow continue with such traits during ‘Coming Home’ where roots rock meets bluesy rhythms and country-fried grooves. This broad sourcing of influences is what sets the Rob Ryan Roadshow apart from several of their contemporaries and really sets the band out as something altogether different. In part, this is down to personal tastes of the band members where each bring their own musical influences to the creative table whether that be rockabilly, country, blues, pop or punk rock, it’s all in there, with some influences subtler than others. It’s also down to the cultural diversity within the band where America meets Germany for a jolly good knees up! By the sounds of it, such a combined mixture of styles and influences really has no right to work, but that’s exactly what occurs from start to finish during ‘Coming Home’. Whether it’s rolling out a blast of blues rock via ‘Blackout’, to rock combined with country of opening song ‘Free’ or swapping tempos for something beautiful and tender of country-tinged ballad ‘Let The Heartache Begin’, The Rob Ryan Roadshow tie their diverse influences together seamlessly. Throw in the band’s customary souvenir and own interpretation of a cover song or two, with ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ being the standout here, suggests The Rob Ryan Roadshow has successfully brought all their influences home and managed a difficult task of melding these together into one accessible whole. ‘Coming Home’ works on all levels and earmarks The Rob Ryan Roadshow as a rather exceptional band.
