The River Empires - Epilogue (2010)

As a kid, I always had something against Bluegrass music. I believe that stems from my 2nd Grade teacher and his habit of playing musicians like Doc Watson or The Dillards. Because of that I never really explored the genre, let alone go out of my way to buy something from it. However, this album changed my view on the genre as a whole.

The River Empires is a Bluegrass & Cinematic sideproject, created by members Jessy Ribordy and Josh Shroy of the Post-Grunge band Falling Up, with a little help from Casey Crescenzo from The Dear Hunter. The album has a sort of Illinois feel to it in a way that its a folkish sort of album that sounds slow and beautiful for the most part, with a few points of interest such as "A Toast To The Snake King" where the pace really picks up. Even as a 1 and half hour long album it manages to keep your attention the entire way through. It hardly seems as long as you'd originally think. The album is part of a series of albums covering the films The River Empires 1, 2, and 3 (Which I believe are yet to be made). However this, as the title suggests is the epilogue to the albums. It has a reflective kind of feel which adds to the feel and beauty of the album, and it inevitably sucks you into the story. The thing that might stand out the most to you though, is its lack of guitar. Throughout most of the album the main instruments you'd hear will be the piano and drums, but it doesn't really detract from it's sound, in fact it's sparse guitar work adds more to it's sound. Casey also plays a huge role in that sound, as you can in hear his influence of every damn track. Solid album as a whole, with stand out tracks like "Overture In Thales Summer" and "The Marching Of The Clocks", the latter of which is probably the highlight of the album.

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