Ancient River

Ancient River is the brainchild of prolific singer songwriter J Barreto, grown out of his deep passion for rock music and a love of all things psychedelic. What started in the swamps of the American south has now evolved through various band lineups across one psych and one Americana album every year for the past three years, 2014 sees James and fellow brother in heavy drone arms, Alex Cordova, taking their immense live sound to the road once more in the wake of a new era for the band. Veterans of the psych scene, their wall-of-sound barrage has been honed by extensive touring across the states and beyond, including two appearances at Austin Psych Fest and playing Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia 2012.

And it all began in 2000, guitarist J. Barreto was making frequent trips to Gainesville to play with his instrumental psychedelic band The Ohm. Over the next few years they recorded several albums worth of material, entirely on a 4-track tape recorder. After moving to Gainesville to start his own project, Barreto began recording local bands, self producing several albums and creating music for local independent films. It was out of this period of musical exploration that Ancient River was born. Barreto's house grew into a full home-studio where the band rehearses and records, always honing in their sound consisting of everything from reverb soaked shoegaze and psychedelia to the Americana sound they visit periodically.

Locked away in the pursuit of his sonic vision, J. Barreto earned himself a reputation as a creative hermit deep in his music. It was two years before he took Ancient River to the stage, re-emerging as an impassioned singer/front man, as well as wielding his unmistakable space-rock guitar sound creating a captivating live show. The inspiration for the band's name, Neil Young (who used the lyric "ancient river" in the classic song Thrasher) also provided inspiration for a trilogy of Americana rock releases. Now the band find themselves on the eve of releasing a new album and traveling to some of their most highly anticipated performances to date. A pioneering and prolific act at their creative peak and still on the rise, Ancient River look to take their vision and unique sound to new heights in 2014. Let it flow!