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Riverthieves to Pipe out the Piper at Last Stop on the Soldier Tour
Ottawa, Ontario (20 April, 2019) - Regional, progressive-folk band, Riverthieves, will bid a sad farewell to founding member and multi-instrumentalist, Devon Matsalla, next month. In his honour, the band will give its last performance in its current lineup on Saturday 04 May in Chelsea, Quebec. This will be the final show of its tour celebrating the release of their 2018 original album, Soldier.
Matsalla, who hales from from Calgary, Alberta, has played pipes, whistles, keyboards and EWI in the Celtic-styled Riverthieves since 2006. He is following love and fortune and will be relocating to Brisbane, Australia. “I’m really sad to be losing Dev,” says Finley Mullally, who met Matsalla while training at the Royal Canadian Artillery School in the mid-1990s. “We’ve been playing music together since we were young and handsome. It will be tough-sledding without him.”
Matsalla is at the heart of the six-piece band, comprised of traditional instruments like fiddles, mandolins, bagpipes, whistles and bodhrans alongside modern keyboards, electric guitars and drums. "Being part of the Riverthieves these past 14 years is one of my proudest accomplishments,” he says. “Together, we have shared song, laughter and tears with thousands of people. We have experienced the best of family and friendships, supported each other through the toughest of times and rose to the greatest heights of art and humanity. I am proud and excited to set off on a new adventure across the world with my wife, Kathy, but a piece of my heart will always be with the Riverthieves."
The ‘Thieves have played across the river in Western Quebec before and, with hometown fiddler, Evan Lewis, in the line-up again, they are expecting a very warm welcome. The band has found a community in Chelsea which resonates with the strong Canadian roots celebrated by this band.
The Riverthieves have been praised for the variety of moods and styles presented in their concerts which feature original and traditional songs and tunes. The Chelsea concert is the last in a series of small-hall and festival shows the band has mounted over the last year. The setlist will feature the original songs on their second album, Soldier, many from their first album, Bandit Queen, and will dig into their deep well of traditional material. The doors open at 6:30pm with curtain at 7pm on Saturday 04 May at the Mill Road Community Space, 8 Chemin Mill. Tickets are $15, available online or at the door.
Soldier and Bandit Queen may be streamed at riverthieves.com and their new album is available for purchase and download at iTunes. CDs will be available for sale at the show.
Contact: Finley Mullally, info@riverthieves.com
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Devon piping along the shores of Charlottetown, PE (July, 2013).
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Riverthieves’ Remembrance Day Concerts will Reflect on Band Mates’ Afghanistan tours
Perth, Ontario (01 November, 2018) – Eastern Ontario’s progressive folk sextet will finish their 2018 touring season with two special Remembrance Day concerts.
The band will be presenting a programme of original, traditional and contemporary music at St Brigid’s Cultural Centre in Ottawa on 11 Nov and at the Full Circle Theatre in Perth on 24 Nov.
Two of the band’s members – Finley Mullally and Devon Matsalla – are currently serving in the Canadian Army and both are veterans of the Afghanistan conflict. Each of the other bandsmen has a connection to the military as the father or son of a veteran.
“Our setlist for these shows will draw heavily on our original songs that we released earlier this year”, says Devon, who plays pipes, whistles, keyboards and EWI. “These were written and composed after Finn and I got back from tour and had a chance to think about what we did and make some sense of it all.”
The band released Soldier, their second full-length album but first studio recording, in May 2018. Its ten tracks are all original.
“Folks coming out won’t find things too sombre, though,” cautions Devon. “We’ll do a few reflective pieces for sure, but Finn and I have been soldiering our whole lives and most of it spent in the company of good friends, working hard and having good times. A military career is tough but satisfying with lots to celebrate.”
St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts is located at 310 St Patrick St (at Cumberland) in the Byward Market, Ottawa. Use the Cumberland Street entrance to access the Kildare room. The Full Circle Theatre in Perth is found at 26 Craig Street, the road to Smiths Falls. Curtain for both shows is at 7:30 with tickets available online or at the door.
For more information or to purchase advance tickets, visit the band’s website at www.riverthieves.com.
Contact: Finley Mullally, info@riverthieves.com
Devon piping at Remembrance Day Concert Athens On, 27 Oct 2018
Fin and Devon, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Sep 2009.
Watch Riverthieves' Fiddler, Evan Lewis, crank it up with a set of traditional pieces during the Carp Fair on 23 Sep 2018.
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Riverthieves Announce Four New Shows in 2018 Concert Tour
Perth, Ontario (01 October, 2018) – The ‘Thieves have announced the 2018 touring season will conclude with four concerts featuring original music from their new album, Soldier.
The progressive folk sextet perform at the Mill in Spencerville on 11 Oct: at the Joshua Bates Centre in Athens on 27 Oct; at St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts in Ottawa on 11 Nov; and at the Full Circle theatre in Perth on 24 Nov.
“We had a blast at the [Richmond and Carp] Fairs last month, but we’re presenting a very different show for these small halls”, says fiddler, Evan Lewis. “As we move closer to Remembrance Day, we’re delving into our catalogue of military material – not all originals either: you’ll hear some Stan Rogers, some Steve Earle, some traditional songs, mixed in with our own compositions.”
Evan has returned to the Riverthieves’ line-up, having served as First Violin several years ago, having left to take up a government post in Switzerland. The chief fiddler role became vacant this Fall when Javier Mullally accepted a scholarship to study music at Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“What’s old is new again,” jokes Evan. “It’s been really great coming home to my band and finding that we hit our groove really well.”
The two fiddlers will likely be sharing the stage on 11 November when the Riverthieves play St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts for their Remembrance Day concert.
“I am really looking forward to the duelling fiddles!” says Evan.
Tickets for all shows will be available online and at the door. Admission for all shows is $15. Curtain is at 7:30 pm. A free digital download of the band’s album, Soldier, will be made available for those purchasing tickets online.
For more information or to purchase advance tickets, visit the band’s website at www.riverthieves.com.
Contact: Finley Mullally, info@riverthieves.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Riverthieves to Release Soldier in Toronto at The Local on 02 June
Perth, Ontario (25 April, 2018) - Eastern Ontario’s Celtic-styled, progressive-folk band, Riverthieves, will be packing mandolins, bagpipes, and fiddles into their single-engine Mooney airplane and making the short flight to Toronto for their debut at the Local on Roncesvalles, June 02. The band will unveil live performances of their original album, Soldier, which explores the military experiences of the musicians, two of whom are currently serving in the Canadian Army.
“I’m really excited to bring my band home,” says Finley Mullally, who grew up in Weston, attended St Michael’s College School and who is also a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict. “The second song on the album, ‘Mats Sundin’s Tears’, tells the story of a Toronto lad watching Mats score his 500th career goal the same day we lost two Canadian soldiers in Kandahar. It’s a meditation on hockey and soldiers and our shared culture. Although I think it’ll play well in Senator country, it’s a very west-end Toronto song, referencing Paul Coffey, the Humber River and Weston Lions Arena.”
“The album covers tons of ground musically,” adds multi-instrumentalist Devon Matsalla, from Calgary. “The album starts with a kitchen-party jam on “I’m not going drinking in Georgetown”; Chris [Knowles] wrote a sea shanty about the Napoleonic wars; Javier [Mullally] wrote a song about Tecumseh in the War of 1812; we’ve got a World War II love ballad, and a number of Afghanistan-inspired tunes as well.”
Although the core members of the Riverthieves have been playing the National Capital Region since the early 2000s, the band was forced into into hibernation in 2009 as Matsalla and Mullally completed back to back Afghanistan tours, followed by Matsalla’s surprise deployment to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake and his subsequent posting to Valcartier. The band did not reunite for six years
Soldier was mostly written and arranged in 2016 and recorded at “the Hangar” - a rehearsal and recording space that Matsalla purpose-built - in the first half of 2017.
Mike Kay provided the studio equipment and helped to record the album which was engineered and mixed by Chris Bradley. Musically, many of the songs feature the familiar Celtic sounds of fiddle, whistle, mandolin, and bagpipes; however, several have a more contemporary feel with keyboards, electric guitars and the EWI - Electronic Wind Instrument. The 2018 setlist will also dig into original and traditional material from their first album, Bandit Queen.
Soldier drops digitally for download and streaming on 01 May and will be available at Spotify, iTunes, Amazon.com, play.google.com, akazoo.com, 8tracks.com, and many more. CDs will be available for sale or download at the Local or may be purchased through the band’s website at www.riverthieves.com.
The Local is located at 396 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON. Showtime 9 p.m. - 12 midnight. There is no cover charge for this release party.
Contact: Finley Mullally, info@riverthieves.com
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