Early in the 20th century, Woody Guthrie informed his songs about American life by hitchhiking and hopping trains on his frequent cross-country jaunts. Early in the 21st century, Bronx, N.Y. native Alynda Segarra, already singing, playing piano, writing poetry and a fan of Motown Soul, Doo Wop and Hardcore Punk, left home at 17 and discovered North America in much the same fashion, finding a similar affinity for Folk and Country and realizing how they meshed with her existing musical passions.
Segarra landed in New Orleans to visit a New York friend and joined a group of street musicians known as the Dead Man Street Orchestra, which morphed into a new aggregation called Loose Marbles.
As a busker, Segarra learned to overcome her lack of musical training with a penchant for mashing up traditional Folk with other styles and a gift for audience connection through honesty and vulnerability. Eventually, Segarra formed her own band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, a name that sounds like it could have been lifted from a Guthrie lyric.
The first Hurray for the Riff Raff album, 2008’s It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You, was more of a singer/songwriter exploration, whereas 2010’s Young Blood Blues was a full-band recording, influenced by Segarra’s exposure to both Neil Young and Bob Dylan by new bandmate/fiddler Yosi Perlstein and vocalist/guitarist Sam Doores. The band dynamic was in full force on 2012’s Look Out Mama, which was quickly followed by 2013’s covers project, My Dearest Darkest Neighbor. Hurray for the Riff Raff ‘s breakthrough album and debut for ATO Records, Small Town Heroes, was released in 2014 to rave reviews.
Segarra has noted that the band’s next album, The Navigator, will represent a departure from the Indie Folk direction, as her new songs represent explorations into her Puerto Rican heritage and tap into even more modern musical influences. But based on existing material, comparisons to Gillian Welch and Carolina Chocolate Drops still seem completely appropriate, because Segarra and Hurray for the Riff Raff have a similar knack for creating vibrant contemporary music with an authentic antique veneer.
This article appears in Jul 13-20, 2016.