SOU’WESTER EVENTS!
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Performing a special stripped down acoustic set, The Sou’wester Lodge welcomes Lost Lander with Garth Steel Klippert of Old Light playing a short solo piano set!
Before she died, Matt Sheehy’s mother used to tell him about a dream she had about Lost Land Lake—a place she spent part of her mid-western childhood. That dream inspired the name of the Juneau-born, Portland-based songwriter’s band, and her memory is imbued in Medallion, their second album. If DRRT, the group’s first independently released album, was about the confluence of nature and technology, Medallion, its latest, concerns dualities – experiences of love and loss, impermanence and longevity, death and rebirth.
The confrontation of these dualities resulted in a set of songs that explore “more human territory,” according to Sheehy, a professional forester who spend his days in Oregon’s immense wooded expanse – where he collects data while occasionally dodging 1,000-pound bull elks and the stray hunter’s bullet.
The coming-apart of Sheehy’s marriage engagement and nearly concurrent loss of his mother, followed closely by the blooming of a relationship with longtime friend and bandmate Sarah Fennell, heavily influenced the lyrics on Medallion.
“It was almost like a switch flipped,” Fennell says. “It took us a while to figure out what that meant.” The 80s British synth-pop influenced ““Gemini” deals very directly with the danger I felt in getting closer to Sarah,” says Sheehy, while Paul Simon-esque world folk number “Flinch” is a direct response to his mom’s passing.
Yet not all the songs are so directly autobiographical: “Feed the Fever” was based on a TV interview with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden; the lyrics are direct quotes from the transcript. The swirling world beat psychedelia of “Trailer Tracks” was written whilst secluded in an Airstream during a writers’ retreat. The wide-screen Blue Velvet epic “Alpine Street” is a cinematic dream of suburban domesticity, cut with an undercurrent of sadness and dread. “Nothing lasts forever,” Matt observes. “And the seeds are already planted for the change that’s inevitable.”
Sheehy took the seeds of the songs into “the idea factory/workshop that is Brent Knopf’s brain,” he relates, “where he spits out all the bells and whistles that we hang on those structures.”
The new songs, recorded with producer Knopf (Ramona Falls, Menomena), also owe their current form to Sheehy’s bandmates; keyboardist Fennell, drummer Patrick Hughes and ex-bassist Dave Lowensohn. Medallion also features Beirut trumpet player Kelly Pratt, Akron/Family’s Dana Jenssen, and new bass and guitar player, William Seiji Marsh.
After the 2011 release of DRRT, Lost Lander went on tour for almost two years, playing 140 shows in the US, Canada, Europe, and Russia, where their collective experience resulted in the camaraderie and tightness that went into the making of Medallion. “For me, this band has been a dream come true” says Sheehy. The music business in general may be pessimistic, but not everyone in it is. We’re excited to go towards enthusiasm.”
Medallion is all about wrenching joy from despair, of finding the permanent within the temporary. “This record is an exclamation of love and loss,” Fennell declares. “It’s emotional, dealing with life in an exuberant way, even if it’s sad, hard, wonderful, and crazy. We’re all just lucky to be here to experience it.”
Country music was not always about glitz, glamour and praising the red, white and blue. In its earliest inception, it was a means for communities and families to get together, quaff whiskey from jugs and mason jars, and share stories about the hardships of life. While most mainstream country artists like to ally themselves with “real” country, few of them come within a good squirt of tobacco juice of it.
Leave it to Portland, Ore.’s Lana Rebel to hit the mark. Dusty roadhouses and the front seats of beat-up Chevys are the landscapes for her broken hearted tales, delivered in a sweet alto with just enough instrumentation to keep it interesting. Don’t expect boot-kicking barnstormers here, or sassy odes to “redneck woman” power; these are love songs, and Lana knows that that is one four-letter word that often rides with hurt.
Lana avoids many of the clichés of country music, like annoying vocal inflections and clever turns of phrases that are just too predictable. Her music falls somewhere between The Virginian-era Neko Case and Mary Gauthier records. If sad songs don’t drive you to drinkin’, and if tales of woe don’t bring you down, this record will be your friend.
The Sou’wester is so excited to have these two ladies joining us!
Rebecca Clay Cole is a musician from Great Crossing, KY. She has played a multitude of keyboards, drums, and/or percussion instruments in many bands including The Minders, Wild Flag, Rebecca Gates & the Consortium, and Portland Cello Project. She currently plays keytar in Portland’s own Chanti Darling and keyboards in Seattle’s Telekinesis, in addition to performing and recording her own music as Clay Cole.
Rebecca Gates is a US based musician, curator, artist and audio editor. She has released five albums, three as leader of the critically acclaimed group The Spinanes (Sub Pop), toured internationally and appeared as a vocalist on numerous records by artists as wide ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson. Her record Ruby Series was hailed by Spin Magazine as “warm, thoughtful, and melodically gorgeous.”
A swing group from Portland, OR inspired by 1920s-40s swing, hot jazz, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, Les Paul and Mary Ford. From Brazilian to Bebop to Bach, to Parisian musette waltzes; this Guitar and Cello fronted ensemble comes in a lot of combinations, additional players, and permutations but always employs the freedom and spirit of improvisation, a good time, and simply enjoying and loving life.
Sharing vocal and songwriting duties, Birger Olsen, Mike Elias and Tom Bevitori are the heart of Denver, while the rest of the line-up has long included several of Portland’s finest players. Currently, the band consists of drummer Sean MacNeil, bassist Billy Slater (Grails) and the legendary Lewi Longmire on lead guitar. Past and future editions include Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley and Michael Van Pelt, Ben Nugent (Dolorean), Ryan Spellman (Quiet Life), Ray Raposa (Castanets), Tom Menig and many others.
Paste praised their 2012 self-titled debut’s “perfect tunes,” while KEXP hosted a live session and proclaimed, “sweet harmonies and tight arrangements abound.” Statements like these become all the more relevant with their upcoming release, Rowdy Love, as Denver teamed up with Earley and Adam Selzer (M. Ward, Norfolk & Western) for their first trip to a proper studio. Recorded live in just two days at Selzer’s Type Foundry Studio, Rowdy Love certainly showcases all the endless chops at Denver’s disposal.
The record’s true focus, however, lies in the rare way Olsen, Elias and Bevitori’s distinct voices co-exist. There’s a natural melding of styles that’s evolved from afternoons on Olsen’s back porch, late night’s around Elias’ fire pit, and every last time they’ve nailed “The Weight” harmonies at the old Triple Nickel. Denver’s three songwriters may come to the process with varying style and influences, but Denver’s songwriting is universally honest and bare, whiskey-fueled, sweat-soaked, and steeped in working class life. Some might call it country. Some might call it rock. Some might call it a few drunks on a stage. Either way, bullshit and irony have no home here.
Tara Jane ONeil is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and visual artist. She creates melodic and experimental music under her own name and in collaboration with her brilliant friends. Her recordings and live performances range from solo songing to noise improvisations. TJO has composed and performed music and sound for films, theater and dance performances, and written large and small ensemble experimental architectures.
Katy Davidson (formerly Dear Nora, Key Losers) writes and performs lyrically-driven experimental pop music that explores the liminal zones between reality and alt-realities.
Cynthia Nelson writes songs and sings them and plays them on instruments. in order of appearance: ruby falls, retsin, the naysayer, the sophie drinker music project, cynthia nelson, cynthia nelson band. new album forthcoming in 2016.
Geoff Soule lives in Portland, Oregon.
Bart Budwig doesn’t write the big songs. He writes the songs about the places between the hills, in the draws and hidden canyons where truth is a little more in focus, stories can take their time gettin’ told, heartbreak is a place of deep reflection, and melodies don’t have to wear rhinestone suits or drive new, shiny, cars to be beautiful. Bart’s also not afraid of working out of the spotlight- he engineered not only his own full-length Whiskey Girl (2012), but also albums and tours with Radiation City, Holiday Friends, Girlfriends, Misé, John Craigie, Edmund Wayne, and Mama Doll.
“Mike Midlo is a storyteller disguised as a musician. His latest project, MidLo, received a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council and was released on March 5, 2013.” www.getyourpitchforkon.wordpress.com
If you have a love for old classic country artists such as Hank Williams and Patsy Cline then you might have a soft spot for this Portland band. Jenny Don’t sings from the heart and Sam, Kelly, and JT play like there is no tomorrow. Sit back and enjoy!
