For the past six months, a new band has started to make waves in Nashville.
Justin Anderson, Justin Duttrey, Trish Noe and Tasha Valentine, also known as Saint Valentine, first met when Noe, the band’s drummer, saw one of Valentine’s signature powerhouse performances at the Lipstick Lounge with her then-supporting band.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to perform with her," Noe said, gathered with her band mates during an interview with O&AN at Café Coco on Louise Avenue.
In fact, It was in that very same building that the group first formally came together as a band in the upstairs recording facility known as the Fish Tank.
Noe, driven by a strong feeling of synchronisity, insisted that her friends Justin Anderson and Justin Duttrey, with whom she had been close for some time, join them there to jam and see what happened. Noe and Valentine had finally given up on the idea of having an all-girl band as being too difficult to pull together effectively.
Along with a bass player, who was recommended to the foursome by a member of the Nashville girl-band the Trampskirts, the group almost immediately gelled and thus was born Saint Valentine.
“I really wanted to be a part of something where everyone was equally involved,” said Valentine, who released her first solo record last year. “ We are all friends and really love what we are doing instead of playing music because we feel like we had to, like that was all we had to offer.”
Unfortunately, as well as the core quartet gelled, the group still found difficulty finding the right bassist to fill the position. After the departure of the initial bass player, the group went through at least one more before discovering Ethan Bowles who now rounds out the group.
As for the music, there is a real optimism in the band’s stagecraft that seemed to be somewhat lacking when Valentine was performing as a solo act with a backing band.
“I don’t want to give the impression that I was unhappy before,” explained Valentine, “ This project is more like a family than anything else. We all really love each other and love being around each other. Life is serious. There are a lot of things that need to be taken seriously but life doesn’t have to be so damned melodramatic.”
Duttrey echoed Valentine's sentiment.
“Our music is about life and everything that comes with it,” said Duttrey, who in addition to being the band’s lead guitarist also acts as band manager. “There are bad times in life and we can embrace those as well but there is also the idea of awareness. There is a strong idea of people being true to themselves and digging deep within to find out who they really are and being comfortable with that.”
The band quickly decided to call themselves Saint Valentine right before their first show at Pride in Pensacola, Fla., but has recently decided to change their name to The Riverside Revival in reference to their home studio located on Riverside Drive in East Nashville.
“I really didn’t want people to think the band was all about me,” Valentine said. “We’re about much more than that and we needed a name to reflect that.
Riverside Revival plans on having their first recording finished in as little as two months with plans to tour and promote the album.
"It's all about the pursuit of funkiness in our music and in our lives," Anderson said.
Noe said each of the band members have day jobs which impact their performances in a positive way.
“We are all in the service industry in our day jobs,” Noe said. “Something that is drilled into our heads is taking care of people and making sure they have an exemplary experience so that they want to come back. That work ethic transfers to our performances and we work really hard to give everyone a good time.”
Until then, anyone interested in checking out their boisterous, high-energy show can see them perform on Sept. 19 at the Lipstick Lounge.