Band set to play E.A. Rawlinson Centre on Nov. 15 for their last show of 2018
It’s been quite the year for Rosie & the Riveters.
The folk-infused trio consisting, of Alexis Normand, Farideh Olsen and Allyson Reigh, have played across North America and even a music festival/conference in Germany that also features the likes of Passenger, and Jess Glynne. They also had a music video debut with Billboard magazine on International Women’s Day.
“It’s been really fun, we had a really major year. It’s been our biggest yet,” said Allyson Reigh, who is from Prince Albert.
The band is returning to its roots — two out of the three of them were born and raised in P.A. — with its last show of 2018 Thursday at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre. It’s been a while since the group played the venue. Their last visit was in 2016 to promote their album Good Clean Fun!
That album brought sold-out tours, awards and nominations, a performance for British royalty and national airplay.
Now, they’re returning to the Rawlinson to promote their new album, Ms. Behave, released earlier this year. The album builds on the band’s message of empowerment and giving women a voice.
“With our music, we want to inspire people and really empower them to be a change for good in their community,” Reigh said.
“A lot of our message deals with issues that particularly pertain to girls, women and female-identified people. I’m sure you can tell by the names of some of our songs that we have a very strong message.”
Those song titles include the title track, Ms. Behave, Let ‘Em Talk, Gotta Get Paid, Ask A Man, I Wanna Be King and the #MeToo-inspired I Believe You.
They tackle topics such as mansplaining, the gender pay gap, equality, stereotypes about traditional gender roles and sexual assault.
One of those songs in particular — I Believe You — has attracted international attention and led to the kinds of conversations the group wants to encourage.
I Believe You was the song and video released on International Women’s Day exclusively with Billboard Magazine. The song is a simple message for sexual assault survivors: I believe you. While it fits right in with the #MeToo movement, the song was written before the issue was widely reported publicly.
“We wrote it before Me Too took off,” Reigh said.
“For us, it was an important song we knew we had to write.”
Reigh explained that while the Me Too movement really took off in the past year, the campaign was actually started back in 2005 by New York activist Tarana Burke.
“We wanted to contribute to that conversation. Then the avalanche of stories started coming forward. It was really an important message and a timely one. We’re happy to be able to contribute in any way we can.”
Before the band performs the song in its live shows, it includes a content warning so people aren’t taken by surprise by the song’s sensitive topics.
“We set it up in a way that’s respectful of the dialogue, and really open,” Reigh said.
“Often, we’ll have people coming up to us after the concert, sending us messages and telling us how much that song meant to them or how much support they felt that we sang that song publicly.
“It’s been really heartwarming and heartbreaking. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re very happy to be part of the conversation, and we hope that song brings comfort to a lot of people.”
It’s a conversation, Reigh said, all people need to be taking part in.
“We need men and women and everyone who identifies as that or other to be part of this conversation about how we talk about women and girls and female-identified people, how we support them and promote their work and give credit where credit’s due.
The show Rosie & The Riveters is bringing along Thursday to promote the new album is also new. It isn’t one Prince Albert fans will have necessarily seen before. It will, though, contain some of the classic Rosie & The Riveters signatures – the vintage-inspired look and dance moves, he witty banter and the tight harmonies.
“I think people can expect a really good, fun time,” Reigh said.
‘What we aim to do is create a space where we can have a conversation with the audience, entertain them while also talking about important social issues. We’re not preaching anything. We’re having a conversation with the audience, showing them our music and all the things we’ve been working on really hard for the last couple of years. It’s a really fun, dynamic show.
“I think people will leave the show with a sense of upliftment and a sense of empowerment and a really good sense of fun.”
