Band’s new name, album reflect American Indian link

Red Cloud Revival has been doing its thing for eight years, first as Donnybrook, and now with a new name, a name the group says is more reflective of its interests.

Eight years is a long time. It’s definitely a long time for a local Maine act, which has faced an uphill battle in getting its sound out there for people to hear. Red Cloud Revival has held strong, though, through moves from place to place to place, a lineup change, a name change, three full-length albums and only sporadic strings of live shows.

Its new album, “So Tired of Chasing the Light,” the first under its new name, is a collection of what the group calls progressive hard rock, influenced by Led Zeppelin, Tool and Faith No More. The band says it’s a matured sound for them, eschewing their earlier hard-core roots for a more melodic, complex sound.

“So Tired” has also been finished and ready to hit stores for over a year. Singer Josh McLaughlin said band members scrapped the idea of trying to get signed to a label after shopping it around for months, and decided to release the album themselves.

“We had to get it out,” he said. “We’ve had it done for so long, we just had to put it out ourselves.”

One of the things that make Red Cloud Revival unique is its love of American Indian culture and music. The name change was partially inspired by this, as Red Cloud was a Sioux chief who defeated the U.S. Army in battles preceding Little Big Horn.

“We have Native American influences, both lyrically and musically,” said McLaughlin, who says he is part Passamaquoddy. “We have drum breakdowns in a lot of songs; we do hand drum parts. All of my chants are in Cherokee and Sioux.”

Band members are McLaughlin, his brothers Jake and Jim, both guitarists, drummer Jeremy Rankin, and bassist Kel Swift, the newest addition to the band.

The new album features more native influences than ever; many of the songs are based on American Indian events across history, and the booklet, which was handwritten and illustrated by McLaughlin, is heavily influenced by American Indian artwork.

The band is ready to take what it has learned over the past eight years and turn it into something new and exciting. It has certainly paid its dues since the group first got together in Lincoln in 1997.

“We’ve matured on our instruments,” said McLaughlin. “We’ve come back to Lincoln after living in Providence, R.I., and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve set up some East Coast touring. We’ve just started from scratch and come up with a new thing.”

Red Cloud Revival will play at Ushuaia in Orono tonight with local bands Nobis, Soundbender and Kanerco. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $8. For more information on Red Cloud Revival, visit www.redcloudrevival.com. The album can be purchased through the Web site. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.