I am proud to share this epic conversation with musician-songwriters RAY VIETTI and ALEX SALCIDO, the two founding members of the rock group THE HARMED BROTHERS. This is my first ever two hour interview, but it's definitely worth the time. Although this episode is documentary length, I truly enjoyed talking in depth about their songwriting along with their candid thoughts and feelings during this pandemic. Throughout the show are previews and full tracks from their June 2020 album, "ACROSS THE WAVES." These talented artists are great example of what my show is all about - real talk about what songwriters go through. Listen for some cool and unique motivational nuggets, especially from Alex, who comforts us during these low times that even if it goes lower, it's going to be okay...because it has to be. Hope you enjoy Ray and Alex as much as I did. Their music is a reflection of their life and times across the waves.
Dean Olson
StrongWriter On the Radio
* Listen to Ray and Alex's Interview with Dean! *
Featured Guest: THE HARMED BROTHERS (Ray Vietti & Alex Salcido)
The Harmed Brothers’ story can best be traced by the highways and byways of the United States and beyond. From the plains of Ray Vietti’s boyhood home of Missouri, to the hustle and bustle of Alex Salcido’s Los Angeles upbringing, molded in the foothills of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains and seasoned in the woodsy luster of the Great Northwest and everywhere in between–the Harmed Brothers have most often called the road home.
Over a decade ago, singer/songwriter Ray Vietti first encountered Los Angeles transplant, song-smith and multi-instrumentalist Alex Salcido. The two soon came to recognize each other as kindred spirits in both vision and song, and began creating a universe in which The Harmed Brothers would tell their stories.
The duo recorded and released their independent debut, “All The Lies You Wanna Hear,” in 2010, building the foundation of the Harmed Brothers catalogue with tales of love, loss, hard-drinking and redemption.
The Harmed Brothers’ evolution as songwriters as well as a growing full band shone through in their 2011 sophomore effort, “Come Morning.” Released on Oklahoma City label Lackpro Records, “Come Morning” sways easy with the rhythms of the road and the forlorn waltzes of America’s dimly lit dive bars and dance halls.
By 2013, years of constant cross-country touring led the Harmed duo to St. Louis’ Native Sound Studio. With a full band in tow, they offered their most ambitious work to date, “Better Days”.
Released in late 2013 by Portland, Oregon’s Fluff and Gravy Records, “Better Days” draws themes of personal growth and redemption alongside the hurdles, heartbreaks and mishaps that have always accompanied the traveler in their search for enlightenment. Praised as “honest and inspired, devoid of posturing and pretense,” “Better Days” features some of the Harmed Brothers’ deepest grooves and their most plaintive and enduring tunes.
2017 brought the self-titled LP, “The Harmed Brothers,” quick off the heels of 2016’s “A Lovely Conversation”. Both are ambitious collections of songs new and old, marking the band’s evolution into the indie rock fervor which best describes their sound. Released on Fluff & Gravy Records, the albums together made a statement on how far the Harmed Brothers have come and how high they are willing to leap.
Now, at ten years old, the Harmed Brothers have landed in the river town of Ludlow, Kentucky where they’ve transplanted their sound and rooted themselves into the quaint, art-centric community.
In early 2019, the Harmed Brothers crossed the river into downtown Cincinnati’s historic Herzog Studios to record their fifth LP “Across the Waves” – due out in Spring 2020 on Fluff and Gravy Records. “Across The Waves” is the culmination of the band’s decade long journey through themselves, their country and the world around them – a meditation on loss, doom, nostalgia, true love and most importantly, peace and acceptance. From the Friday night urgency of album opener “Skyline Over,” to the weary, existential closure of “Where You’re Going” and album closer “Time,” “Across the Waves” finds the Harmed Brothers at their most mature, confident and adventurous – sharing a unified vision looking back on one incredible decade while looking out to the next.
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