ALBUM PREMIERE: Austin Alt-Country Band Harvest Thieves Share Debut Effort ‘Rival’

Harvest Thieves have only been around since 2013, yet one listen to their debut studio album Rival and you’ll think you’re hearing a band of seasoned pros who have been making music together for years. Frontman Cory Reinisch writes fleshed out lyrics chronicling the kind of whiskey-filled Texas nights that lead to bad decisions, broken hearts, and brutal hangovers. Reinisch’s lyrics are those of a natural songsmith, and a music lover who has spent many a night by the jukebox kneeling at the altar of Patterson Hood, Jay Farrar, Rhett Miller, and gone but not forgotten Texas legends like Townes Van Zandt and Doug Sahm. Songs like “Bob Dylan’s 78th Hangover”, “The Least Of These” and “History Teachers” are introspective and find Reinisch lamenting on his own history and misdoings.

Potent storytelling, a smattering of rollicking guitars and fiddle playing, colorful harmonies, and the occasional honky tonk tune can be found on Rival, making the Austin-based band a sort of quintessential act within the alt-country spectrum. There are also some damn fine guitar solos courtesy of lead ax man Coby Tate (listen to “Part-Timer’s Lament”). In other words, Harvest Thieves encapsulate the best things about a great bar band, yet there is something far more substantive to their sound. These ramblers are definitely ones to watch as they (hopefully) travel beyond the borders of the Lone Star State for a tour in the coming year. Did we mention they named their 2003 Chevy Express Vannah Montana?

We’re excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the new album, which hits on January 8 via Holy Mountain Sounds, right here on Glide Magazine. 

Speaking on the making of the album, Cory Reinisch says, “Rival is our first full-length album. We spent several months recording the material here in Austin, Texas, at Estuary Recording with Michael Landon at the helm. I’d offer up that [the idea of] conflict is right at the heart of the album’s central theme. Specifically, the rivalries and competition we often have with enemies real and imagined. Even the enemy we sometimes become to ourselves. However, I believe there’s a redemptive quality to the songs. In victory or defeat, there’s a sincere resignation to the understanding that these types of conflicts are an inherent and unavoidable element to the great big party of life.”

Pour yourself a tall glass of whiskey, light up a smoke, and take in the debut album from Austin’s Harvest Thieves:

Rival is out January 8th. For more info on Harvest Thieves visit harvestthieves.com.