Since the break-up of the much-loved Silvertide a decade ago (we were singing their praises as long ago as 2004), guitarist/songwriter/producer Nick Perri has kept busy. There was a short-lived reunion with Silvertide singer Walt Lafty in SINAI, and a brief dalliance with alt-rock quartet Mount Holly. And then, for the last four years, the Underground Thieves.
It's a sound you'll know. There's a feast of blues rock to savour, featuring sounds both old and new, and it's all delivered with the kind of fully-formed confidence only the truly accomplished can muster.
Perri clearly knows what he's doing (he's also played with Shinedown, Perry Farrell and Matt Sorum), but the Underground Thieves sounds like a project that takes everything he's learned and squeezes it all into a package that's enormously ambitious, defiantly his own, and rattling good fun.
In 2019, two singles – Whole Lotta Money and White Noise – won Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week competition, and last year the band's debut album Via Sun arrived. And Nick's very kindly offered Classic Rock readers the chance to download it for free.
- Get Sun Via by Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves (email required)
"The ultimate goal is for people to hear and enjoy the music," says Nick. "I’m grateful to be teaming up with Classic Rock magazine to give away the record and share the album experience with as many people as possible. Although there are different moods and narratives throughout, I believe the takeaway message is one of hope, love, and good vibes. So yeah, let’s share it!"
As if the prove the point about moods and narratives, last month Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves released a video for I Want You from Sun Via, a song that sounds less like typical blues rock and more like a parallel world where Tom Petty was part of the British invasion.
"To be honest, it’s my favourite song on the LP and probably my favourite that I’ve ever written," says Nick. "It was one of those that just came to me in a very organic and natural way. My bandmates Michael and Anthony [Montesano] helped me fine tune it and from the moment it was complete it’s just always given me a certain warm feeling. And to me that’s what all my favourite music does – it encapsulates us with feelings and memories and hopefully, joy.
Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves are currently on a co-headlining tour in the US with Rick Nielsen's family project The Nielson Trust. They'll then join Blackberry Smoke for a few dates, before a headline residency at Philadelphia's Ardmore Music Hall. More details and tickets are available at the Nick Perri website.
