The Rathburns

"The Rathburns" blend musical styles of Blues and Rock. Heavily influenced by Classic Rock, front woman "Frances" explodes with emotion and passion on stage and a modern day "Janis Joplin" style that is moving at their live shows. The rest of the boys are playing super tight, super charged riffs to electrify these original tunes. This band is a stunning experience live! - Michael Evans

Toronto natives The Rathburns embrace the whiskey-soaked, smoke-filled lifestyle of dark, grungy blues. Passionate and raw, the band forces their high-energy set on anyone in the room, making it almost impossible not to groove along with them. Built on a simple foundation of classic blues rhythms, the band throws impressive guitar licks and shrieking vocals on top, which help them stand out from pack, thrusting their musical skills into the forefront. The result is an aggressive but addictive sound of musical ferocity. - Katuwapitiya (Micheal Vipond)

How much fun can one rock band have playing CMW? Check out The Rathburns to answer that question. Here is yet another Blues fueled female fronted kick ass band. This band delivered a spine tingling bluesy version of MJ's Billy Jean and really impressed. In the realm of two of our Top 10 Indie Bands of 2012 (Bella Clava and Little Foot, Long Foot), The Rathburns deliver a high octane brand of rock. If you like Bella Clava or Little Foot, Long Foot check out The Rathburns (and vice versa). Frances Virgilio has an incredible voice and infectious energy on stage. Welcome to our radar guys and gal. Definitely a highlight of the night, one of our editors has selected this set as his "Gig Of The Night" (more info at bottom of the article).

Terry Makedon aka T-Mak (Editor in Chief): I enjoyed many sets tonight but the highlights for me were The Rathburns and The Bloody Five - both unique in their style and both very worthy of being explored more musically. - Terry Makedon

Those who draw influences from the blues are often criticized for taking an overly simplistic approach to music. Acts like the now revered White Stripes or Black Keys were criticized for these sorts of ‘flaws’ in their outset. Surely I can comfortably posture that simple music may be easy to play but composition is an entirely different kettle of very creative fish. Indeed, while most guitarists can play stairway to heaven, it is one in a million guitarists who could write that song.

For me, the blues is like talking to an old friend or watching my favorite movie. The repetitious nature of the blues and or blues-rock seems to simply scratch an itch. Although they play a simplistic genre The Rathburns’ music is raw, ripe and wriggling. Maybe that is the reason when I listen to The Rathburns EP I am urged to take off my professional pants and pull my crazy fan stalker stalking over my head. Released in late 2012, this EP delivers an impeccable degree of compositional creativity. Another way of saying that is that their songs are fantastic. Indeed who could not enjoy music that is high-energy indie blues-rock with Joplin esque vocals that give it a classic, epic quality?

This band started as a brother and sister folk duo with Frances and Joey Virgilio on vocals and Guitar respectively. Then with the decision to go electric and bring in a rhythm section (comprised of bassist Erik Kolomayz and Matt Burdon on drums) this band was transformed into the powerhouse act we see today. Frances’ vocals are jaw dropping, exuding passion and power. Joey clearly has a flair for composition, with tasteful frills and epic tone crashing through the record. Kolomayz has a reserved yet thumping style coated in the perfect amount of fuzz, creating a tasteful bridge between melody and rhythm. Burdon has metronomic poise. His experience playing both jazz and metal is quite evident.

‘The Blues’ is close to the core of all the emotion inlayed in modern music. Therefore I do not think that it is a coincidence that ‘the blues’ seems to be a key ingredient of all great rock 'n' roll music. Furthermore, I believe there is something intangible and sincere about this music that cannot be faked and cannot be forced, a nebulous quality that hides the magical spark in blues music, something that eludes definition. Either way one thing is certain, The Rathburns have captured it in a bottle. - Round Table Radio

...I walk out of every venue with my tail between my legs anytime I see a little Toronto band called The Rathburns.

My first interaction with The Rathburns, before they were even a band, was working with singer Frances at a record store. We shared an affinity for obscure Neil Young albums, and I always used to creep up behind her and smell her perfume -- which she was aware I was doing, but how could I not? Even after a sweaty slugfest on stage, she still smells spectacular.

Then all of a sudden, from out of nowhere, she was fronting this band (I didn't even show she sang at all, let alone wailed like a banshee and kicked the shit out of anything within a 10-foot radius), and the band just seemed to be coming out of the flood gates running.

I first saw The Rathburns live at the Horseshoe Tavern sometime last year, and before their set I see this dude roaming around the merch area with his arm in a sling, carrying a giant vial of prescription painkillers in his functional hand, popping these fuckers like candy. A few minutes later I see him on stage setting up the bass rig, and I'm thinking, "Seriously? Who's making the injured friend be a roadie!?!" He then carefully removed the sling, strapped on the P-Bass, and turns out he's Erik, the bass player in the fucking band.

The performance was one of zero restraint, by anyone in the quartet. Especially Erik. Complete sonic and physical annihilation.

I left the show and texted Jordan (Shepherdson, Paint guitarist) raving about what I just experienced, and how we had to play with them. So, we invited them to join a couple shows with us, including our Capsulated DVD release. We bonded pretty effortlessly, needless to say.

Cut to this weekend at the Rivoli, on the 20th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. The Rathburns took the stage on a bill with our friends in Secret Broadcast (who released their Adam Kasper-produced album Filthy Souls) and the Ascot Royals, who were stellar as always in their own right.

But as though they weren't "fuck you" enough already, halfway through The Rathburns' set, I saw Erik jerk his right hand away from his bass for a moment and squirm a little. Next thing we all knew, the song had ended, and his hand was a swathing mess of red. This wasn't a paper cut -- he was fucking pouring blood.

So what does he do?

He licks some of the blood off his fingers, smears the rest all over his face, walks up to Frances, smears blood on her face, they keep fucking playing.

I'm always confident that Paint can hold its own in any situation, and we do. And I almost never say this about another band, so take this to heart: The Rathburns are a band that makes me just want to pack up my shit and go home. - Robb Johannes

The Rathburns are a blues rock band from Toronto, ON, and the words “fresh” and “energetic” don’t even begin to describe them. Coming on after the shoegazer drone of My Pet Genius – which was quite appreciable in its own way – The Rathburns were a splash of cold water to wake up the crowd and get them to “jump up and dance a little!” They describe their sound as blues/rock but I’d say there’s also good dose of funk and the lead singer, a sultry siren named Frances Rose, has a voice that is rich with soul. As they describe themselves, they are “looking to soothe your soul and make you bang your head all at the same time.”

Their own rapport is unbelievably cute – they started their set with a group huddle punctuated by a brief moment of Frances dancing in place, and when through the course of their high energy set, an errant guitar knocked the side of her head, bassist Eric came up afterwards and gave it a kiss to make it all better! Their connection was infectious and it spread to the listening crowd through their charming, slightly cheeky stage banter. When partway through the set Frances asked, “So, baby, what are you doing later tonight?” a girl from the crowd called out, “You, babe!” to the laughter of the whole crowd.

Their music is fun, energetic – like, hair-whipping frenzy energetic – and with a good range of songs from more blues-infused to screaming rock which shows a versatility and experimentation that’s nice to see in a new band (they’ve been together just over a year and a half, according to an overheard conversation with a fan). They so far only have one EP out (which is self-titled), but The Rathburns are definitely a good CMW treasure to find and I, for one, will be looking forward to what they come up with next. - Cadence Canada

The Rathburns

We only saw this band twice this year and couldn’t help but be drawn in like moths to a flame. Imagine the Black Keys with Janis Joplin singing. Pure edgy and hard garage blues that is as good as any band playing that style. Excellent rhythm section and bluesy riffs make a perfect foundation for one of Toronto’s best female vocalists Frances Rose to belt out her earth shattering soulful words. For fans of electric garage blues with a vintage sound. - T Mak World