{"id":144817,"date":"2024-07-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=144817"},"modified":"2024-07-16T10:49:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:49:13","slug":"hurray-for-the-riff-raffs-alynda-segarra-looks-ahead-and-reconnects-with-acoustic-guitar-on-the-past-is-still-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/hurray-for-the-riff-raffs-alynda-segarra-looks-ahead-and-reconnects-with-acoustic-guitar-on-the-past-is-still-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurray for the Riff Raff\u2019s Alynda Segarra Looks Ahead, and Reconnects with Acoustic Guitar, on \u2018The Past Is Still Alive\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alynda Segarra, the Bronx-bred, New Orleans\u2013based singer-songwriter who leads Hurray for the Riff Raff, sounds invigorated as the band prepares to get back in the van for yet another lengthy West Coast trek. Today it\u2019ll be about eight hours, from Sacramento to San Diego. Segarra and crew have been rolling across the U.S. (with a quick stop in Canada) for more than a month, playing shows in support of their eighth studio album, The Past Is Still Alive<\/a><\/em> (Nonesuch). But with two weeks of travel still on the calendar, the going doesn\u2019t appear to have gotten even close to tough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been amazing,\u201d Segarra says. \u201cI\u2019ve never had tours like this. I feel like people are connecting to this record in a way that I just haven\u2019t experienced before. The energy is heightened. People are singing along and seem really in it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What might the reason for this be? \u201cWell, I think it\u2019s my best work for sure,\u201d says Segarra. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten a grasp on my own language and my own version of storytelling. But I also think we\u2019re going through a very interesting time collectively, and the topics of grief and memory and time passing are really touching people right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point: \u201cOgallala,\u201d the country-tinged climax of The Past Is Still Alive<\/em>. Over a slow, deliberate 4\/4 beat, a pedal steel guitar traces mournful paths around the stoic braying of two saxophones (baritone and tenor), and a dust-bowl cloud of reverb rises as Segarra sings, with an intimacy that half conceals the underlying drama: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to think I was born<\/em>
Into the wrong generation<\/em>
But now I know<\/em>
I made it right on time<\/em>
To watch the world burn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our current era of climate gloom, political uncertainty, and general post-pandemic pessimism, these words ring out like an anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery night, people are waiting for the release of that line,\u201d Segarra confirms. \u201cOf course it\u2019s not celebratory, but there\u2019s a relief in talking about it, in naming this fear that\u2019s hanging over all of our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another distinguishing feature of The Past Is Still Alive<\/em> is Segarra\u2019s return to the acoustic guitar, a key ingredient of much of Hurray for the Riff Raff\u2019s past work that largely went missing on 2022\u2019s electronically focused Life on Earth<\/a><\/em>. As the following interview shows, this new integration of the band\u2019s American folk roots with a more sophisticated level of songcraft was spurred in part by a creative rut\u2014which Segarra broke out of by moving a few fingers around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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