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Bishop Briggs is really generating the creative momentum to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her breakout hit “River.”
First, rather than drop a remix to honor the track’s decennial, she opted to completely rerecord the song as “River (10 Years Later)” with a different atmosphere and attitude, enlisting producer Will Bates as a collaborator.
Then, in an exclusive Guitar Center performance, Briggs treated her fans to a sparse and intimate duo reading of “River (10 Years Later)” with herself on vocals and Bates playing piano, piano strings and baritone sax. With the song’s superlative production elements stripped away, you get to hear the beating heart of the work, experiencing more clearly the artistry of the work and the emotion driving it.
But Briggs was not done revealing the core of “River (10 Years Later).”
Here, in another Guitar Center exclusive, she and Bates dive into the actual Apple Logic session for the song. You pretty much get unrestricted access to the nuts and bolts of the song’s production and recording process. It’s also an opportunity to study what a producer can bring to a track—in this case, observing how Bates choose to reinterpret some of the elements of the original 2016 version.
“I’ve known the song for a long time,” says Bates, “and it was such an honor to bring something new to the table and interpret it in a way that explores how Bishop has matured and changed. It was a really fun way to approach ‘River’ and introduce different colors and even a different perspective.”
“It was so exciting to hear what you had done,” adds Briggs. “And I want to make it clear—this is all you. Everything we're talking about is from your brain and from the magic you bring to a track. I wanted you to express yourself and be creative, because I wanted it to feel like a true collaboration where I could focus on the singing part of it. And then, I wanted you to add what you add.”
However, revisiting “River” wasn’t just about finding a producer who could bring a new perspective to the song. It was also about documenting Briggs’ evolution as an artist in the ten years since the single’s initial release.
“It felt so important with this 10-year anniversary to hopefully show growth vocally—some different approaches I picked up over time while performing the song,” she says. “I also wanted ‘River (10 Years Later)’ to sound live—as though you were in the room with us—as well as capture some of the grit that’s in the original.”
Bates had no problem “capturing grit.” In fact, he pursued it, chasing vibe, authenticity and cinematic emotionalism over precision in the production soundscape for “River (10 Years Later).”
“When you pursue perfection, you can kind of lose the character of a song,” he says. “So, I tend not to use Flex Time or autotune in Logic, because I want some individual tracks to sound a little wonky if you heard them soloed. But they do work within the complete mix, adding the nuances and idiosyncrasies I like to hear.”