The View
Since 2011, when Lee and Elaine Roy, the brother/sister duo known as THE ROYS, first caught the attention of the bluegrass world with their critically-acclaimed, Top-10 debut album Lonesome Whistle, they ve been ceaseless in their mission to capture the hearts of fans everywhere. In 2012, THE ROYS sophomore album, New Day Dawning, debuted at # 2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums Chart, dominated the Hot Disc Top-40, reached #1 on Amazon's Bluegrass Best-Sellers list and climbed to the #14 spot Bluegrass Unlimited magazine's TOP-15 Albums chart in 2013. By September, all of the songs from this EP owned positions on the Bluegrass Today Chart, making THE ROYS the first-ever act to hold that honor. In 2013, THE ROYS continued their relentless journey with the release of their third album, Gypsy Runaway Train, which reached #2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart, and earned the #1 spot of SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction s Most-Played Albums Chart, with the hot and active track Those Memories of You, landing at #5 on the Most-Played Tracks Chart.
Without breaking stride, THE ROYS, continue their creative momentum with the release of their fourth album for Rural Rhythm, The View. The highly-anticipated project is the truest representation of THE ROYS unique sound to date, with Lee and Elaine backed by their own band members Clint White (fiddle), Daniel Patrick (banjo) and Erik Alvar (bass). The project also builds upon THE ROYS success as songwriters, introducing eleven new songs written by the award-winning duo.
Elaine and I have poured our hearts into this project, says Lee as he climbs aboard the bus for another whirlwind festival season. We really wanted to promote OUR sound and tell OUR story with this record. So, we started by using our own band members for this (no hired guns, if you will). Then, we decided to record it and self-produce it right here in our own studio. Finally, we wanted it to be OUR music and showcase OUR songwriting. It s a bit unnerving to throw such much of yourself out there, but we wanted this album to tell our story...THE ROYS story, explains Lee.
For years, our fans have been telling us they really love the music we write, so we wanted to really expand upon that. Also, it s been great getting our own band creatively involved in recording the album. The project has really cemented us as performers and broadened the foundation we continue to build upon, says Elaine enthusiastically. This album, more than anything we ve done so far, has our signature on it from beginning to end. We are very proud of it and excited for our fans to hear it.