Rival Sons

California's Rival Sons deliver direct, unassuming rock & roll rooted in classic-rock forebears. The group coalesced in the late 2000s and steadily built critical and commercial momentum, cresting with the Grammy-nominated 2019 album Feral Roots. Late-night television appearances multiplied, and the band shared stages with heroes including AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Guns N' Roses. Their trajectory advanced further with the expansive paired releases Darkfighter and Lightbringer, both issued in 2023.

The quartet of guitarist Scott Holiday, bassist Robin Everhart, drummer Mike Miley, and vocalist Jay Buchanan formed in Long Beach in 2008. Each musician arrived with prior experience that had yielded modest successes in earlier projects. Producer Dave Cobb entered the picture immediately, guiding the self-released debut Before the Fire in 2009. Early visibility arrived when “Tell Me Something” soundtracked an Indy car racing campaign; the following year the band opened for Alice Cooper and AC/DC. In 2010 they made the unexpected leap to extreme-metal label Earache, which promptly released a self-titled EP recorded that same year.

That move cleared the path for Pressure & Time, again produced by Cobb and featuring artwork by Storm Thorgerson. The album registered modestly at home yet charted across several European territories, leading to tours with Judas Priest and Queensrÿche before the group returned to support Evanescence in the States. Their third album, Head Down, arrived in 2012 still anchored in classic-rock riffs and blues-inflected tones; it earned widespread acclaim and stronger European placements, reaching the Top 20 in three Scandinavian countries and peaking at number six in Sweden. Heavy touring continued with slots at Download Festival and support runs for Kiss and Sammy Hagar.

Drained by years on the road, Everhart exited in late 2013; Dave Beste took over on bass. Back in Nashville, the band reunited with Cobb for the fourth album Great Western Valkyrie, released in June 2014. It became their first genuine U.S. breakthrough, topping Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, entering the Billboard 200 at number 125, and maintaining its European foothold. Momentum carried into Hollow Bones, the fifth LP, again wrapped in Thorgerson artwork. Issued in June 2016, it climbed to number 115 on the Billboard 200 and once more led Heatseekers, offering eight originals plus a cover of “Black Coffee,” the Ike & Tina Turner song made famous by Humble Pie. The group sustained its European audience by supporting Deep Purple overseas and then serving as main support on Black Sabbath’s The End Tour.

After four albums on Earache, Rival Sons announced in 2018 their signing to Low Country Sound, the Elektra imprint run by Cobb. Lead single “Do Your Worst” surfaced that September. Together with the fiery “Back in the Woods,” it appeared on the sixth studio album Feral Roots, released in January 2019. The set became their third straight Heatseekers chart-topper and earned Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance for the track “Too Bad.” An acoustic version of the Feral Roots song “Shooting Stars” followed in 2020.

October 2022 brought the Dave Cobb-produced single “Nobody Wants to Die,” the first preview of seventh album Darkfighter. The full-length arrived in June 2023, preceded by second single “Bird in the Hand.” Lightbringer followed in October 2023. Both Darkfighter and Lightbringer, captured during the same 2021 sessions with Cobb, reached the Top 50 on the U.K. Albums chart.