Press & Reviews
2010 Press Reviews...
March 11, 2010 (Sun Valley Online Editorial)
Seattle's 'Ravinwolf' is Taking Local Music Scene By Storm This Week!
by John Pluntze
RAVE REVIEW:
I just saw Ravinwolf perform live for the very first time on Wednesday (March 10th) and it was less than ten minutes into their set the other night that I suddenly REALLY wished I'd seen them the previous week as well (when they were also performing on a Wednesday night at Papa Hemi's Hideaway, in Ketchum) because between the brilliantly-colored tie-dye flag they had affectionately stretched out in one corner of the restarant, the equally eye-catching tie-dye T-shirt (and bandana) that Jamey Bilyeu was wearing onstage AND those often brilliantly-executed guitar riffs that both he and wife Heather were featuring -- not to mention those seriously kick-ass conga drums that Rodney Turner was making verrrry much his own that night in no time at all -- I suddenly felt like I had missed out on some very, very special by NOT seeing Ravinwolf on March 3rd as well.
But whatever I may've missed out on a week before, the March 10th show they gave they other night was positively brimming with high energy and infectious enthusiasm and unceasing respect for their audience (the latter I say because it was a Wednesday full of very popular music-oriented events in Ketchum -- Susan Spelius Dunning, R.L. Rowsey and Zachary Prince having a George Gershwin music night at the Church of the Big Wood; Maria Laura Bustamante & Alejandro Rivas once again dazzling and enchanting their audience there at the increasingly-populated CIRO Market's Wine Lounge; the Paul Tillotson Trio seriously kickin' it once again up at Sun Valley's Duchin Room (with guest NYC drummer Ross Pederson), etc -- and it would've been soooo easy for Ravinwolf to look around at the dozen or so of us there at Papa Hemi's that night, thrown up their hands in exasperation and dejection, and then just sorta phoned it in for the rest of the evening.
But they didn't.
Instead, they played with the sort of unbridled heart and soul and power that the two CDs of theirs I borrowed recently from Hemi's Hideway co-owner Matt Vandernoot only HINT at in many cases. And as the night wore on, they seemed to only get better and more determined than ever to give their small, but loyal audience the (musical) ride of their life -- and that they did!!!
After several classic cover tunes ("Been Through the Desert On a Horse With No Name," "Friend of the Devil," Willie Dixon's "Shake It For Me," Robert Cray's "21"), Ravinwolf then eagerly embarked on a endlessly energetic and inspired series of songs from their own albums ("The Last Cowboy," "Hand In Glove," "Just West of August," "Last Cowboy," "Take Me Away," "Where the Horses Run Free," etc) that left little doubt in ANYONE'S mind there that night why this Seattle-based blues band has managed to survive and thrive for over a decade now, while so many of its contemporaries have indeed fallen by the wayside or otherwise been forgotten about.
And don't be at all surprised when Heather sings stellar lead vocals on "Make Believe" if you don't find yourself closing your eyes at some point (as I did) and wondering if you're not in the presence of now-legendary Heart lead singer Ann Wilson ("Barracuda," "Alone," "What About Love?," "Dreamboat Annie", etc) instead.
Ravinwolf totally slays...
(For Complete Article please click HERE)
Special Interest Stories...
March 23, 2010
Ellensburg's Ravinwolf Goes Green with tour bus effort...
By Chelsea Krotzier
ELLENSBURG — Ravinwolf's Heather Bilyeu spent Monday afternoon putting the finishing touches on what will one day become her band's ultimate mode of transportation — a tour bus. But it still has a ways to go.
Purchased three years ago from a local church, Ellensburg High School bus No. 27 once hauled her husband and band mate Jamey Bilyeu off to school."He and his sister caught it to go to high school; even when it wasn't cool, they had to ride the bus," Heather said. The bus, a vintage 1972 diesel, sat in the Bilyeus' storage shed since it was purchased.It is the band's second bus. The first, an International school bus purchased in 1996, served the band for four year on tours across Washington and Oregon. "We had built-in bunks in that one," Heather said. "It worked really well because it wasn't super huge, like a Greyhound, so it was like a Greyhound, so it was manageable." In 2000 the bus was stolen. The band was reunited with it, though, years later. "An old hippy was using it to live in," Heather said. "It had passed through a number of hands ... it was cool to see our old bus and it inspired us again."That inspiration led to the purchase of the band's newest bus dubbed "Rocinante."
The ultimate plan is to convert the bus into a bio-diesel powered motor home. For now, it will serve as a sleeping quarters as the Bilyeus rush to finish its paint job before they leave for their Oregon tour Thursday. "We're going to just do a makeshift bed in there for this trip and get a hot plate," Heather said. "This summer we are going to work on the conversion."So far, the Bilyeus have spent their time getting the gum off the bottom of the seats - a few pieces that could have once been Jamey's. "We found a guitar pick the other day and wondered if it was Jamey's," Heather said.The seats will be removed with the frames still in tact. Heather said the frames are perfect for installing bunk beds for their band mates. "We don't like the way some buses are boxed in," Heather said. "We want to leave it one big room."
The bus, now a bright green color with a white roof, was getting a few touchups Monday afternoon. Heather was fighting the Ellensburg elements to get the paint job completed in time, with as few pine needles as possible mixed in the paint. When the band returns to Ellensburg in May, it hopes to focus on the interior by adding a kitchen, stove, master bed, bunk beds, emergency bathroom and two captains chairs. The goal is to make the bus self-sufficient. "Our dream is to put some solar panels on the roof," Heather said. "They make this film now back East where you can coat the top of the vehicle and run on solar as well." The Bilyeus also hope to give the bust the ability to transform into their own personal stage.
"It's the whole reason we want a bus," Heather said. "We have our generator, can get a local license and put on an afternoon show in the park ourselves ... we've done it before, and it worked out great and was really magical."
