Dusty Rhodes And The River Band are not your typical young West Coast indie rock band. It began with ‚Äö?Ñ??The Last Waltz‚Äö?Ñ?¥, the 1978 Scorcese-directed documentary of The Band, grew through the orchestration of Brian Wilson, and variously thereafter took influence from Hank Williams, Simon & Garfunkel, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd. The crowds went where they lead, and with a fairly rabid following in their native Orange County , they had raised enough money for studio time and began work on a debut album. Another of their influences, Isaiah ‚Äö?Ñ??Ikey‚Äö?Ñ?¥ Owens from Mars Volta, had caught them live by chance and offered to produce. It was another performance in West Hollywood that would attract Sideonedummy Records, home to Gogol Bordello and Bedouin Soundclash. The album is preceded by the perfect antidote to the New Year Blues, the single ‚Äö?Ñ??Dear Honey‚Äö?Ñ?¥, out on 28th January 2008. A shamelessly self-pitying hungover lament, it opens like the theme to a Godfather movie, all mournful mandolin strings, before bemoaning ‚Äö?Ñ??Cause I drank away all my money, I spent the night on the street, I think I just lost my dear honey, who‚Äö?Ñ?¥s gonna take care of me?‚Äö?Ñ?¥.