In a genre entirely dominated by male rockstars, female rock and roll musicians also began to break out; thus rewriting history with their extraordinary and superlative performances. Currently, there are countless women who have shaped the history of rock music and Alynda Segarra of the music group Hurray For The Riff Raff Americana happens to be one of them.
The country/folk band from New Orleans, Louisiana, US was formed in 2007 by Alynda Segarra, the trailblazing singer and creative force behind the band’s successes today. So far, the group has released nine studio albums some of which have become instant hits and also garnered positive reviews. With the group, Alynda has collaborated with several top musicians as well as other American musical groups to date.
Hurray For The Riff Raff are best known for their most popular albums Small Town Heroes which was released in 2014 and The Navigator which followed in 2017. As they continue to dominate the limelight, the band are even became more popular in 2019, after being named a performer at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Keep reading, as we bring you everything you need to know about the band.
Who’s Hooray for the Riff Raff?
Despite being a band, it’s the brainchild of Alynda Segarra, who is also the main driving force behind the band. She is an American singer and songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the New Orleans-based band.
Alynda was born in New York and raised by her aunt named Nereida in the Bronx, New York. She is the daughter of former New York Deputy Mayor Ninfa Segarra and her husband. Alynda holds an American nationality and is of Puerto Rican descent.
As she was growing up, the rock star started attending hardcore punk shows at the ABC Rio located in New York. It was there that she developed an interest in becoming a rock and roll musician, a passion that paid off and brought her immense fame.
Musical career
When she was 17, Segarra decided to run away from home, so she started jumping on freight trains crossing North America. After a while, she had a short stint with the Dead Man Street Orchestra in an effort to hone her musical skills. Later in the same year 2007, Hurray for the Riff Raff was born and Alynda and the band released their first Extended Play titled Crossing the Rubicon
The band also released two more albums This Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008) and Young Blood Blues (2010), before signing with European label called Loose Music. With the label, the band released their self-titled debut album in March 2011. Following the release of their debut album, their songs topped the UK charts, and were played on BBC 6 Music, as well as BBC Radio 2, among others. The group has also featured in the British daily, The Times.
The following year, Hurray For The Riff Raff started making waves as they were invited to perform at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & History Festival. After that, they released their next album titled Beware Mom. They followed this with another hit album My Darkest Neighbor in 2013. Their other albums include Small Town Hero (2014) and The Navigator (2017), which achieved commercial and critical success.
As the band continued to wow their many fans with their exceptional folk and country musical style, they became even more popular when they were listed among the bands to perform at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. their fans the opportunity to see their beloved band perform once again in Indio, California.
Long live the members of the Riff Raff group
As we mentioned earlier, the Americana musical group formed by Alynda Segara in New Orleans was founded in 2007. Its current members include Justin Kimmel and Kellen Harrison as bass players, Jordan Hyde as its guitarist, Sarah Goldstone as the keyboard, Charlie Ferguson on drums, and of course, Alynda Segarra as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Interestingly, Segarra met his bandmates at Holy Cross in the borough of New Orleans, and a track – End of the Line – in their 2012 album, “Look Out Mama” was based entirely on how they united.