HOWLIN RAIN To Release “The Russian Wilds” (Produced by Rick Rubin)

San Francisco Bay Area-based power quintet Howlin Rain’s third album The Russian Wilds passionately protests the currently popular notion that heroically conceived and executed rock music is a thing of golden ages passed.  Having been formed by bandleader-singer-guitarist Ethan Miller in 2004, Howlin Rain soon caught the attention of uber-producer Rick Rubin, who signed them to his American Recordings label and involved himself deeply in their subsequent musical evolution thereafter.  

Arriving Valentine’s Day 2012, The Russian Wilds is a sprawling, Pynchon-esque labyrinth and a colorful, feeling-filled catalyst for hungry minds. “There was a point when we were really trying to blend Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, Steely Dan’s Gaucho and Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge of Town,” says Miller.“There’s a sense of audacity to these records – a band chasing down strong, invisible connections – and there’s moments like that on our record.  We didn’t always do the smartest or safest things [laughs].”

Besides Miller, Howlin Rain comprises Raj Ojha (drums, percussion), Cyrus Comiskey (bass), Joel Robinow (keyboards, guitar, vocals) and Isaiah Mitchell (guitar, vocals). ). These musicians have drawn upon the basic vocabulary of classic rock but then stretch and reshape it to more arcane and ambitious ends, resonating quite nicely with the work of kindred spirits such as Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Wooden Shjips, Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Vetiver. Where Howlin Rain differs from some of their compatriots is their penchant for conjuring simmering soul grooves in unexpected places, marrying blue-eyed soul influences to strutting highway-ready rock.  In addition, their latest work reflects increased focus on sophisticated harmony vocal arrangements, adding exciting new dimensions to their ouevre.

“Bay Area-based Howlin Rain is an unguardedly passionate modern classic, a band that would have been a headliner at the Fillmore East and Winterland in another era that reassembles rock’s primary elements in ways that make it roil with new life on their latest album, The Russian Wilds.” – RELIX

Howlin Rain has performed at major festivals in the U.S. (Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Bumbershoot) and in Europe (Green Man, All Tomorrow’s Parties, Azkena), and has toured with The Black Crowes, Queens of the Stone Age, and Black Mountain, as well as sharing bills with Mudhoney, Roky Erickson, Terry Reid, Okkervil River and The Meat Puppets.