You can tell a lot about a group of musicians by the name they give themselves. The Dirty River Boys make music with the type of sound and texture that is soaked in the realities of the hard-scrabble city they call home in the far west Texas desert. Members Nino Cooper, Travis Stearns and Marco Gutierrez are quickly becoming known for their rousing live shows and debut release Long Cold Fall, both of which feature the boys winning three-part harmonies and stout acoustic instrumentation.

It takes determination and talent to make waves when you come from the dust and dirt of El Paso, but the Dirty River Boys are continually proving they are up to the challenge. By utilizing traditional folk instruments with rock and bluegrass arrangements, they are blazing a trail paved by their own, unique style of music.

The Dirty River Boys style blows away any preconceived notions of what acoustic music can be. Harmonicas and fiddles cut melodies that blend with furious licks spilling from guitars and mandolins alongside explosive percussive rhythms all combined to create a whirling dervish of musicality.

However, don't let their musical virtuosity obscure the brilliant lyrics they manage to add to their mix. Each song is replete with imaginative lyrics and creative tales of both true and fictionalized tales of love, death, pain and salvation in the barren environment of the western United States. Despite the specific geographic atmospherics found in the work of the Dirty River Boys, at its core the music is full of universally acclaimed themes.

When it's all said and done, The Dirty River Boys don't just paint a picture with their words, they attach their lyrics to a driving train of music which creates an undeniable experience. These three cats from El Paso have a message to convey, a unique way to get it across and it's probably a good idea if we all pay attention.

-Brad Beheler

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