Thunder and Rain

‘Holler Out’ could have easily got lost in the crowd of very average albums being funded by Kickstarter campaigns. I am so glad it wasn’t, because this is not an average album. Erinn, Pete and R.P met at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in 2013, and decided to form Thunder & Rain, based on their common love of songwriting, and after Ian joined the band in early 2014, they started touring Colorado, even getting a spot at the Golden Music Festival.

‘Holler Out’ demonstrates a really interesting style of bluegrass, being traditional in terms of instrumentation, but also quite polished, to give it a very modern-country feel. I really like this style, since it presents bluegrass in a less-chaotic way, which doesn’t distract me from concentrating on giving good reviews!

The album opens with ‘Dorothea’, which is fairly representative of the record as a whole. I can only describe it as old-style Dixie Chicks, with added banjo, with Erinn having a similar singing style to Natalie Maines, which if you have seen Dixie Chicks live you will now is a compliment of the highest order. I think one of the highlights of the album comes in the second track though. ‘Omaha’ opens with a stripped back banjo solo, followed by the beautiful melody carried by Erinn’s beautiful vocals.

However, whilst Erinn can really sing a solo, one of the best aspects of the album is the variety seen between tracks, and the next couple of tracks, ‘Shine’s Gone Cold’ and ‘Honey Get In Line’ demonstrate the vocal prowess of the males in the group, with Erinn providing the traditional bluegrass melodies. This really helps the album stay fresh, since otherwise it would just seem a bit samey, with the dominating female lead vocals taking the shine off of the instrumentation, which is one of my favourite aspects of bluegrass.

Fortunately, the album staying interesting is never a problem, since the vocals on each track are very well mixed between all of the band members. However, one of the best aspects of ‘Holler Out’ is the production. Usually bluegrass is very stripped-back, with raw and fast instrumentation, but ‘Holler Out’ has hit a great balance between a polished finish and traditional authenticity. In no way is it anything similar to ‘pop-country’, but it is a fantastic example of how to make bluegrass accessible to people more used to listening to music with immediate hooks and catchy lyrics. If traditional folk music is going to come back to its rightful place in the forefront of country consciousness, then bands like Thunder & Rain are going to be the ones leading the revolution. - For the Country Record

#1 Thunder & Rain!
Formed in 2014 in Golden, Thunder & Rain is one of the youngest bands on this list, but the group makes it in on merit. The same year that the musicians came together, they recorded debut album Holler Out with the help of a fan-funded Kickstarter campaign. While Thunder & Rain has a trad side, there are pop elements to the band's songs that make them appealing to both old-school bluegrass shitkickers and people who just love great melodies. - Westword Magazine (Denver)