Surrealist Americana

“What sets us apart is probably our willingness to let the spirit possess us during a show, really be free and let whatever is going to happen happen—with or without our conscious consent,” says bandleader Joe Michelini of indie-rockers River City Extension. “We submit to the undertow and let the music, show and audience take us wherever it wants to—physically and emotionally.” The “surrealist Americana” group has been around since 2007 (and met at an open mic night), in many different iterations and “as the players changed, the arrangements changed.” They’ve just released their third full-length, Deliverance, which was informed, in part, by the Dirty Projectors’ Swing Lo Magellan, and was “by far the most fulfilling creative process I’ve ever been a part of,” says Michelini. “The record is supposed to be a picture of doubt and how doubt can affect our lives.” He says that their songwriting and development are inspired by “wanting to dive further into the abyss—digging for new aspects of the human condition to immortalize and knowing that new work encourages new work and art can give permission to art.”