Howlin Rain Howls With The Wolves At Wolf Trap

When The Black Crowes came to Wolf Trap on June 23rd, 2022, they brought with them West Coast-based Howlin Rain. The Black Crowes may have started their performance with "Twice As Hard," but Howlin Rain was certainly working twice as hard to earn new fans and introduce themselves to bigger East Coast audiences.  

Howlin Rain was founded in 2004 in Oakland, California, by frontman Ethan Miller, this band has become one of the quintessential independent rock and roll bands in America.  Bands are simply not built like this anymore - guitar-forward, hard-charging full-on rock & roll thunder. Howlin Rain is composed of Ethan Miller (vocals, guitar), Kyre Wilcox (bass, backing vocals), Justin Smith (drums, backing vocals), and Jason Soda (guitar, backing vocals). Their sound owes a deep credit to the influences of the powerful blues-rock of West Coast 1970s rock and also draws from a rich musical lineage going back several generations of rock and roll. They share a sound space similar to The Black Crowes and The Rolling Stones. Just as a flower's nectar attracts a bee, the sound and style of Howlin Rain have attracted notable collaborators who were drawn to the band's sound. Collaborators have included Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun), legendary violinist Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review), and Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes).

Throughout their career, Howlin Rain has crisscrossed the United States performing upon countless stages, crafting their mass-moving funk stomp with stellar band interactions and jams. During their travels, Howlin Rain has ventured beyond our native shores and has spent more than one occasion journeying across the Atlantic Ocean to perform on stages across Europe. All these experiences have prepared this band to take the next step and step into the limelight of larger stages, and they were ready when The Black Crowes asked them to open three performances on their "Shake Your Money Maker" 2022 Tour.

Within the first minutes of Howlin Rain's performance at Wolf Trap, there was little doubt as to why the Crowes asked them to open for them. The quartet appeared on stage and plugged in, ready to give the audience thirty minutes of pure musical muscle. But, of course, with their vintage sound, one had to take notice and check to see if there were matching period curly guitar chords dangling from their guitar jacks - we checked, and we were a little surprised that no curly chords were found swaying in the wind.

The band played a ferocious performance that lasted a scant thirty minutes with little pause or respite except for moments when they acknowledged and expressed gratitude to the growing audience.  The band was clearly enjoying themselves and delighted in the size of Wolf Trap's stage and performing in front of such a large crowd. Bassist Kyre Wilcox, in particular, thoroughly enjoyed playing to the crowd. As Ethan Miller snarled out lyrics, Krye swaggered from end to end of the stage, collaborating with his bandmates, letting his hair flip with reckless abandon, and capturing the crowd's attention.