Anybody who knows me, knows that I have tasten which run towards that which is obscure, unpopular, or simply forgotten. This is particularily true of music. In the late ’80s I discovered Phil Ochs and was so taken with his work that I created a web site as tribute to him.
One day (again, in the late ’80s) I spotted a small write up about a local band called The Riflebirds and that they were playing at the Dublin Pub. I was getting together with a bunch of friends and I talked them into going there for the next show. I was immediately taken with the band, and went out to buy their new album.
Sadly, the band broke up shortly afterwards. I think I went to their final show a few months later.
But I still listened to the tape, and had it sitting on my desk at work at the university.
One day a student came in and wanted to transfer his files onto floppies to take with him. My office mate was helping him do this and at one point the student saw the tape and asked “is this yours?” My office mate did not share my taste in music and, with a sneer, pointed at me and accusingly said, “No, it’s his”. The student then revealed that he was Kevin Kraft, the guitarist for The Riflebirds. We chatted for a bit, but I don’t know why I didn’t have him autograph my tape.
Many years later, I was at a John Wesley Harding concert in Seattle. When he introduced the band members I heard a name that rang a bell. After the concert, while getting a CD autographed, I asked the drummer if he was the same Kevin Jarvis who played with the Riflebirds. He seemed shocked that anybody remembered that.
But the tape has stayed in my collection, and periodically I would listen to it, and wonder what might have been.
One day, years ago, I searched for them on the web, which was a bit tricky as an Austrailian band by the same name started around 2014. And there it was! There were a few songs on ReverbNation including an extended version of their masterpiece “The Rain”. I absolutely love that song and now that I live far from Oregon it makes me miss both the band and my home state. I managed to (badly) digitize the tape so now I have it all on my phone. But I always wish I had more.
However, last week I get an email that they released a single, Sometime Somewhere (more versions at bandcamp) and an album will follow! This is the best news I have gotten for a long time! Go check them out!
I discovered that their new track is on Amazon music, and they force you to their shitty shuffle (I am writing up something about that) but in this case, after playing the Riflebirds it played Dar William’s song “As Cool As I Am” which was quite a coincidence, as I always thought Dar should do a cover of “The Rain”.
[Note: I had this article mostly written years ago, but never could think how to bring it to a close. But the band fixed that for me!]