The River Provides spends COVID-19 crisis working on new album

By ROB DUGUAY
Posted 4/16/20

Rhode Island alt-folk funk jam fusion act The River Provides have a knack for finding a tight rhythmic pocket and melding it with powerful lyrics. The rhythms come from Warwick natives Alex Agudelo on the keys, Rion Ramkalawan on the drums

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The River Provides spends COVID-19 crisis working on new album

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Rhode Island alt-folk funk jam fusion act The River Provides have a knack for finding a tight rhythmic pocket and melding it with powerful lyrics.

The rhythms come from Warwick natives Alex Agudelo on the keys, Rion Ramkalawan on the drums and David Boyajian on the bass, while the lyrics come from the bluesy voice from East Greenwich’s Ben Drumm on guitar.

During this time of COVID-19 that we’re in, the band has decided to remain productive at its practice space rather than wallow in the crisis. They’re currently working on a new album called “Rhododendren,” which should be out either later this year or during the start of 2021. It’s promising news in a situation where so many parts of our society are in flux.

The band started in an interesting way when Agudelo and Drumm were working on a farm together. After their shifts they would play music together, and the idea to start a band began to form.

“It’s a funny way,” Agudelo said of how The River Provides started out. “We initially intended on starting a farm together and after long days of working we ended up with acoustic guitars in hand. After a while, it all made sense to start the band.”

The making of the album comes from the band’s mission to create a comfortable, safe and inspiring place as a creative outlet. The members also help out their community through music in various ways.

“We write lyrics, record and brainstorm musical ideas all next to a slow moving river, hence where our band name is derived from,” Agudelo said. “We are thankful we have been able to perform and we love to give back by supporting animal shelters, setting up stages and donating anything we can to local organizations.”

On the new album, Agudelo is using his West Coast connections through his Manhattan Beach, California, roots to take it to the next level. As mentioned earlier, the band has used a lot of their time during the COVID-19 pandemic to finish up “Rhododendren” and put it out to the world.

“This upcoming album will be mastered in Los Angeles and our guitar tracks will be coming from Orange County in California,” Agudelo said of how the making of the record has been going. “Since this pandemic has started, we quickly adapted and tried to make the most of it with writing and recording ‘Rhododendren.’ We’ve used our resources via the internet and personal in-home recording gear and we almost have it completed.”

For a sneak peak of the recording process, The River Provides has a bunch of videos up on its Facebook page at Facebook.com/TheRiverProvides. Check those out for a cool preview of what’s to come and give the page a like to keep tabs on when the new album will be released.

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