Ancient River is a psychedelic rock band formed in 2008. The band was created by singer/songwriter James Barreto, and features Barreto (vocals/guitar/songwriter) and Alexis Cordova Jr. (drums/vocals).[1]
Formed in 2008, with friends and now past members Zachary Veltheim on bass (from Barreto's previous band The Ohm)[2] and Chad Voight on drums.[3]
The band name was taken from the Neil Young song "Thrasher": “Where the eagle glides ascending/There’s an ancient river bending/Down the timeless gorge of changes/Where sleeplessness awaits.”[2][3][4]
In reviewing 2011's Songs from North America, the Knoxville Mercury described Ancient River's music as reminiscent of "the sun-baked desert twang of the Meat Puppets and Crazy Horse."[4]
Cordova and Barreto met when Cordova moved to Gainesville to join another band. In the Mercury interview, Cordova is quoted as saying, "when I found out about [Ancient River], if I hadn’t joined, they probably would have been my favorite band in Gainesville. I kind of feel like it was the right time, right place."[4] Cordova now plays drums in the band, which was his first instrument growing up.[2]
The band's origins can be traced back the music scene in Gainesville, Florida[5] and its thriving home grown DIY scene. Barreto, who had trained as an audio engineer, had a home studio and was busy recording local musicians.[2]
Ancient River made their debut at Austin Psych Festival on April 24, 2010.[3][6] Cordova joined the line up in 2011 and the band began regularly playing the live circuit, playing Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia[7][8][9][10] and Austin Psych Festival for a second time in 2012.[11] Appearances at Los Angeles’ Psycho De Mayo[12][13] and Desert Stars Festival Pre-Party[14] followed in 2014 along with Milwaukee Psych Fest in 2015.[15]
In 2013 their track 'Waiting For The Light' was featured on British television series Hollyoaks Later in the United Kingdom [16]
Currently Barreto is living in Los Angeles and Cordova is based in Detroit but this distance hasn't impacted their productivity.[4] Ancient River has eight releases. Keeper of the Dawn released on April 14, 2015 was inspired by the Italian horror films of writer/director Dario Argento together with one of the duo's favourite musicians, David Axelrod.[17][18] Following its release, the band toured North America for 51 shows.[1]
In June 2015, Ancient River joined forces with London director, writer and actor Xevi Soler to produce a music video for their track Stay With Me. This was the soundtrack to Soler's short film Golem.[18]
NME featured Ancient River in their "Under the Radar" section on July 18, 2015.