Kurt Riley (born February 28, 1987) is an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

songwriter, performer, and musician, based in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

Early life

Riley was born in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

. The son of a military father and a homemaker, his family relocated often during his youth, moving to over a dozen locations across the contiguous United States. Upon discovering music while living in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, he became engrossed with early

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, especially the works of

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

. During this time, he began honing his

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

and

compositional In semantics, mathematical logic and related disciplines, the principle of compositionality is the principle that the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them. ...

skills, teaching

himself A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its Antecedent (grammar), antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and ref ...

to play harmonica, guitar, and several other instruments. Later, after moving to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, he formed a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

group called The Steel Hearts, covering artists such as

Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

, and

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

. After eighteen months of live performances across South Florida (including a concert at

Palm Beach State College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 25,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associat ...

), The Steel Hearts disbanded.

Brighthead

Subsequently, Riley began recording and performing as a solo artist; his first album, ''Brighthead'', was recorded and released independently. Beginning a recurring tradition, Riley designed a custom stage outfit and makeup design for the album. This first costume was called the "Brightsuit." Riley organized a live band and began performing in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, but this series of live performances were cut short by what Riley called "unforeseen circumstances."

Kismet

During a subsequent hiatus, Riley returned to Memphis, and graduated from

Southwest Tennessee Community College Southwest Tennessee Community College is a public community college in Memphis, Tennessee. As the product of a merger between two colleges in 2000, the school has two campuses in Memphis and several satellite centers. The Tennessee Board of Re ...

. Subsequently, he completed his baccalaureate work at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he continued his musical career. His sophomore record, the sci-fi concept album ''Kismet'', was produced on Cornell's campus and released to acclaim from Ithaca media, including

WVBR WVBR-FM (93.5 FM) is a student-owned and volunteer-run college radio station in Ithaca, New York. It airs an alternative rock format on weekdays with talk and variety programs on weekends. It is owned by a non-profit organization, the Co ...

, ''The Ithaca Times'', and ''

The Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, ''The Sun'' is the oldest continuously independent ...

''. Featuring an elaborate plot concerning alien royalty and the future of humanity, ''Kismet'' was released through Electric Buffalo Records, an independent record label started by

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

students. Continuing Riley's DIY ethic, the music videos for ''Kismet''s singles, "Hush Hush Hush" and "Whore," were shot in the

Ithaca Commons The Ithaca Commons is a two-block pedestrian mall in the business improvement district known as Downtown Ithaca that serves as the city's cultural and economic center. The Commons is a popular regional destination, and is filled with upscale res ...

. Riley's fascination with science fiction and disparate musical genres were key influences: "I recalled

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

. Soft synthpads and rocking guitar anthems. The last decade where it was acceptable for music to be joyful in that naïve old way, before cynicism became ''de rigueur.'' That New Wave energy was a true inspiration for Kismet - just as much as the work of

ILM Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion p ...

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

, and

Drew Struzan Drew Struzan (; born March 18, 1947) is an American retired artist, illustrator and cover designer. He is known for his more than 150 movie posters, which include ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ''Blade Runner'', ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', as ...

." ''

The Ithaca Journal ''The Ithaca Journal'' is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper published in Ithaca, New York. It is locally edited and printed in Johnson City, New York, and publishes Monday through Saturday. It has been owned by Gannett since 1912. Publication ...

'' ranked ''Kismet'' one of the best local albums of 2016, and named Riley as one of the top local live performers of the year.

Tabula Rasa

Upon graduating from Cornell, Riley remained in Ithaca, where he continues his musical career. The recording of his third studio album, ''Tabula Rasa'', was funded in part by a grant from the Community Arts Partnership of

Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca, New York, Ithaca. The name is ...

. Upon its release, ''Tabula Rasa'' was well-received by ''The Cornell Daily Sun'',

WRFI WINO (91.9 FM) is a community radio station broadcasting at 91.9 MHz, licensed to Watkins Glen, New York, and on W201CD 88.1 MHz, licensed to Ithaca, New York. The station studios are in downtown Ithaca. History In 2002, Ithaca Communi ...

, and ''The Ithaca Times''. Subsequently, Riley and his band performed at Cornell's

Willard Straight Hall Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and Cornell Health. History 19th century Willard Straight Hall's constru ...

and several Ithaca venues in support of the album.

2018 singles

In February 2018, Riley released the single ''Love Is In My Heart'', produced by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning engineer Will Russell. Subsequently, Magic Tramps and

Alan Vega Alan Bermowitz (June 23, 1938–July 16, 2016), known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic proto-punk duo Suicide. Life and career Alan Bermowitz was raise ...

drummer Sesu Coleman joined Riley's band in June of that year, alongside longtime stalwarts Rick Kline (bass/bass synthesizer) and Charlie Jones (synthesizer/keyboards). The band finished 2018 with the release of the upbeat single ''Be Cool'', the final entry in his first artistic phase.

Chrome Empire

2019 saw the start of a new stylistic and musical period, which Riley calls ''Chrome Empire'', described as “if the Rolling Stones had gotten their start as a bar band in the world of ‘

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

.’” As part of the ongoing ''Chrome Empire'' concept album, Riley has released the singles ''FTR SHK'', ''Say You Love Me'', ''Evergreen'', and ''Free''. Contemporaneously, he collaborated with indie/synth artist Orange Julians under the name ''the beforetimes'', releasing the single ''time machine''.

Discography

* ''Brighthead'' (2010) * ''Kismet'' (2016) * ''Tabula Rasa'' (2017)

Singles

* "Love Is In My Heart" (2018) * "Failure of Imagination" (2018) * "Be Cool" (2018) * "FTR SHK" (2019) * "Say You Love Me" (2020) * "Evergreen" (2020) * "time machine" (2020) * "Free" (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Kurt American male singer-songwriters American male guitarists Musicians from Ithaca, New York People from Holyoke, Massachusetts Singers from Memphis, Tennessee People from Coral Springs, Florida Living people Cornell University alumni 1987 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)