Team Dresch
teamdresch.com
In the early 1990’s Team Dresch was a part of a group of brainy, technically proficient bands like 66 Saints (later Parini), Juned ,Huggy Bear ,the Lookers, Slant 6 ,Containe, and Ruby Falls that kept the focus on breaking new ground creatively and politically. No other artist exemplified that two-pronged attack as beautifully as Team Dresch , the four-piece from Portland who were essentially the Ramones of their time.
In 1994 the band dropped Personal Best , one of the finest debuts in punk-rock history; it sounds as potent today as it did when it was released jointly by Donna Dresch's Chainsaw Records 12 years ago (earlier pressings were jointly released by Chainsaw and Jody Bleyle's Candy-Ass Records ). This 24-minute hurricane of self-proclaimed "lesbionic punk rock" is a barely contained capsule of sleek pop hooks being mercilessly overdriven by the dual guitars of Dresch and Kaia Wilson and hammered heavenward by Marci Martinez's adrenalized drumming. The call-and-response vocals of Wilson and Bleyle (who also handled bass and occasional guitar duties) gave both political weight and fierce beauty to anthemic punk screeds "Fagetarian and Dyke" and "Hate the Christian Right!" while their sweeter solo moments on tracks like "She's Crushing My Mind" and "Growing up in Springfield" were both moving and mesmerizing. Recorded in a scant five days in Seattle (at producer John Goodmanson's shoebox-sized Fremont studio), Personal Best set the bar so damn high that the band dissolved shortly after the release of their follow-up:, 1996's Captain My Captain. Dresch returned her attention to her label, releasing the first two records for Sleater-Kinney , a band clearly inspired by Team Dresch's trademark vocals and disciplined musicianship.
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Liv Warfield
livmymusic.com
Coming Soon!
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Swallows
geocities.com/theswallowspdx
Swallows is a post-modern, psych-emotive rock duo from Portland Oregon whose songs are informed by blues, indie-rock, surf-rock and the rejection of pre-conception. The duo formed in the summer of 2003 when Jon Miller (from the East Coast) and Em Brownlowe (from San Diego) converged in Portland.
The past couple of years have been busy for the band as they went on two west coasts tours and participated in note-worthy local showcases featuring Two Ton Boa, Scout Niblett, Anna Oxygen, Jen Wood, Rebecca Gates (ex-Spinnanes) and Swan Island. Swallows also played at the annual PDX Pop Now! festival 2006 and the first We Made This Portland Festival in August 2006. During the winter of 2006, Swallows teamed up with Canadian film maker, Mark Kohl, and the NW Film Center to star in a music video for their hit, "Flight (Takeoff)", and a short documentary about the band's formation and accomplishments.
Their first full length, Me With Trees Towering (LP 2006, Cherchez La Femme Projects), was recorded by Radio Sloan and received critical acclaim both locally and nationally in publications such as Performer Magazine, Punk Planet, and Skyscraper. The album showcases the band's progressive pop structures and restructured rock landscapes exploring themes of self-enforced solitude, life changes and creative interpretation.
After a successful debut release, Swallows has been challenging themselves with developing a full live sound and writing new material for upcoming EP, Cloud Machines. Filling the gaps with a guitar loop pedal they have been able to create a raw, epic montage of the intricate musicianship they have been commended for over the years. The result is a beautifully messy sound, combining tribal rhythms and off-kilter guitar work that is equal parts early '80s no wave and late '90s math rock.
Swallows' sophomore EP, Cloud Machines, will release in November on the fabulous Church of Girl Records.
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Sugar Short Wave is a Portland based musician, engineer, producer, and film maker originally from Kentucky, who moved west for a taste of life and some sweeter sense of sound. She maintains an openness towards creation through her own patented sensory delay method of rehabilitating music structure for a tuned and well adjusted audience. Intricately arranged pieces are recreated line by line as the multi-instrumentalist plays and loops upright bass, guitars, keys, beats, purrs, and breath into song. Film is a passion, and given the right opportunity and space, sound and image collide. Each show Sugar Short Wave arranges is is different than the last, as she would say " Predictabilty should be avoided."
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Alela Diane
aleladiane.com
Portland based singer/songwriter, Alela Diane, hails from the deep woods and winding rivers of Northern California Gold Rush town Nevada City and a musical family. Her songs blend tense, trance-like arpeggios with warm, thick vocals and meditative lyrics about family and nature.
Willamette Week’s Devan Cook writes, “Alela Diane’s soulful folk tunes are so beautiful they hurt. […] There isn’t a shadow of a doubt that this talented lady is truly a big fish in a small pond, and it’s gonna take an ocean to hold the massive amount of heart found in her music.”
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Myshkin's Ruby Warblers
myshkinsrubywarblers.com
"Smart, sad, and weird" (Village Voice), "A poet who actually has something to say... dense, dark songs rendered beautifully" (Dirty Linen).
"Both lyrical and politically pointed. A rich blend topped with her broad-ranging, keening voice" (Washington Post). The bands latest record is Sigh semaphore, an ep of songs about lying leaders, drowning cities, and plundering the moon, among other things. "Smoky, jazzy acoustic pop, overlaid with Myshkin's distinctive voice. So beautiful, it's easy to miss the underlying sharp social and political observations" (the Oregonian).
Myshkin writes dark jazz / indiefolk / political gypsypop music. She has been touring internationally for over a decade, for the last 6 years with her band Myshkin's Ruby Warblers, and released 7 records of subtly written, beautifully sung and surprisingly arranged tunes. Myshkin's Ruby Warblers are based in Portland Oregon and include Sailor Banks on upright bass and Jesse Brooke on drums.
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Born at the 2005 Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls in Portland. An electric guitar, a drum set, two voices, channeling 1970s punk, classic rock, folk and a long list of indie influences. Our first CD? Songs of protest, reflection and becoming teens. Yes, middle-schoolers can write deep songs.
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Swan Island
myspace.com/swanisland
Forged in the volcanic fields of Oregon in 2004, Swan Island is rooted in the soil of the Pacific Northwest's legacy of feminist and queer rock bands. working with the classic set up of drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, they have managed to fuse a variety of musical styles into a wild journey navigating philosophical commentary on the world's unravelling spiral mixed with undeniable hope through art and the creation of community. Joining forces with guitarist Radio Sloan (The Need, Peaches, the Transfused, etc) has led the swans deeper into their intense deconstruction and re-working of the world around them.
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Mirah
kpunk.com
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has been at the heart of the vibrant Northwest independent music scene ever since her debut album ‘You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This’. A collection of her own 4-track recordings alongside collaborations with Phil Elverum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, the album became an instant classic. A follow-up to her first release, the stunning ‘Advisory Committee’ (2001) cemented Mirah’s place in the alternative music canon. These albums were an exploration of the territories beyond lo-fi, aiming to transcend mere technical limitations and to push the boundaries of ‘indie-rock’ towards a more meaningful communicative goal. Phil Elverum’s sound experiments collided with Mirah’s striking lyrical poise and unabashed emotional honesty and the resulting mix proved quite evocative. 2003 saw the release of ‘Songs from the Black Mountain Music Project,’ the result of a self-imposed artists-in-seclusion collaboration with Brooklyn-based artist and musician Ginger Brooks Takahashi. Mirah began working with Lori Goldston and Kyle Hanson of Seattle’s Black Cat Orchestra in 2003 and the release of a collection of cover songs followed. The album ‘To All We Stretch the Open Arm’ was conceived as an anti-war statement and included renditions of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Story of Isaac’ and Kurt Weill’s ‘What Keeps Mankind Alive.’ Mirah’s third solo album ‘C’mon Miracle’ (2004) combined the ever-present youthful splendor of her earlier works with a more mature stylistic component which led many critics to hail it as her best work to date. A sonic expedition, Joyride: Remixes was released in 2006 and features dance remixes of tracks from Mirah’s three solo efforts by the likes of The Blow, Guy Sigsworth, and Anna Oxygen.
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Siren's Echo
sirensechomusic.com
Coming Soon!
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Ashleigh Flynn
ashleighflynn.net
Ashleigh Flynn hails from Kentucky where she grew up foot stomping along the Ohio River as the steamboats and barges made their way to the muddy Mississippi. A songwriter of exceptional emotional depth and intelligence Flynn is also an electrifying performer blessed with unbridled charisma.
Her 1999 self-titled debut CD was a collection of post-modern poetry in rock-n-roll motion. Mired in the mythology of her heritage, songs on the album trace everything from the northern Isle's of her ancestors, railroad lines and hard-times, to Shakespearean plays and Delphic prophecy. A flurry of media attention throughout the Pacific Northwest (her adopted home territory) and strong sales of the independent release propelled Flynn through hundreds of live performances to the upper ranks of the Northwest music scene.
Nearly three years in the making, Ashleigh Flynns sophomore release Chokecherry is on the verge -- proving to be well worth the wait. It is a stunning collection of snappy pop, southern roots, and soulful laments soaring over a swath of percussive acoustics. Banjo, lap steel, acoustic guitar and dobro crash headlong into drum loops, psychedelic keyboards and screaming slide guitars. Stories of people and place, of loss, of recovery -- Chokecherry resonates with the power of myth and the myth of fingerprints. At times sensual, mysterious and bittersweet, Chokecherry carries a raw natural essence that brings to mind a landscape of Thoreau and Whitman, of Ani and Neil and Lucinda, Toni Morrison, Chrissie Hynde, Robert Hunter.
Through the dark natural born folk of Barrow, to the funky pop of Isa and Falling Far. From the turn of the century railroad blues of Devils Pass and Carry Me to the ghostly horrors of Chokecherrys plantation death rattle. In Dont You Believe, the skyway desires of Amelia Earhardts technicolor dreamscape crash land into a world of secret histories while the daydream lullaby of Everything brings things to a gentle close. Surrounded throughout by top-notch musicians, Flynns expressive acoustic guitar work and expressive vocals lead the charge.
Flynn has been called on as a soloist to support such acts as Michelle Shocked, Jonatha Brooke, and Nanci Griffith among others. With her band, she has fired up local stages for Wilco, Goodness, Laura Love Band, Tony Furtado Band, the Bumbershoot Festival, all manner of NW music festival, as well as a month long stint on the Chesterfield Bar circuit in Europe following such acts as G. Love and Special Sauce, Emmy Lou Harris, Widespread Panic and Eagle Eye Cherry.
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Tracy Grammer
tracygrammer.com
Tracy Grammer rose to acclaim as half of the "postmodern, mythic acoustic" duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. The duo released three internationally renowned albums featuring Carter's award-winning Americana songcraft and toured with Joan Baez, both as featured artists and band members. Sadly, in 2002, Carter died suddenly of a heart attack while touring with Grammer. He was 49.
Grammer, determined to honor Carter's memory and the journey the duo had begun, kept to the road and continued singing. In 2004, she released The Verdant Mile, an independently-produced, seven-song EP of cover songs, plus one original tune and one instrumental. The EP features Grammer with multi-instrumentalist Jim Henry in an acoustic, stripped-down setting. VM was the most played album on folk radio in December 2004 and garnered Grammer heaping praise from reviewers and fans who were waiting to see what she would do next.
In April 2005, Signature Sounds released Flower of Avalon, the much-anticipated full-length solo debut from Tracy Grammer. Multi-tasking masterfully as co-producer (with John Jennings), singer, and multi-instrumentalist, Grammer dug deep into Dave Carter's back-catalog to carry forward the very best of his unrecorded material. Mary Chapin Carpenter sings harmony on three cuts and wrote the liner notes for the record. Carpenter writes, “Tracy’s continuing quest to make sure that the world remembers Dave Carter marks a new beginning of artistry for her. We are lucky that she is so brave, generous and gifted.” In January 2006, FOA showed up on "Best of" lists around the country, and was the #1 most-played album on folk radio for 2005 -- a testament to Grammer's strength as a solo artist, and to the enduring appeal of Carter's songwriting.
Grammer has just released Seven Is The Number, the last full-length Dave & Tracy recording. Begun in their home in the winter of 2001/2002, this album was unfinished at the time of Carter's death. SITN features songs from Carter's out-of-print solo release, plus two new songs heard here for the first time. Grammer and engineer Mark Frethem completed the project in time to honor the fourth anniversary of Carter's passing, releasing the album at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in July 2006.
Tracy Grammer has been touring nationally since 2003 with songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Henry (Deb Talan, Mark Erelli, The Burns Sisters). With electric guitars, acoustic instruments galore, and beautifully matched voices, the duo plays original music and pays homage to Carter and other songwriters while charting a new course for themselves in the musical landscape. If the music fails, they intend to go on the road as a comedy team. You'll have to see the show to know why.
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Marisa Anderson
marisaanderson.org
Guitarist and Songwriter. Member of the Evolutionary Jass Band since 2005. Solo record ‘Holiday Motel’ was 2006 Outmusic nominee for Best Female Debut Record. Music placed in many soundtracks, including ‘For the Love of Dolly’. Past musical adventures include the Dolly Ranchers and the One Railroad Circus. Currently serving as Artistic Director of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls.
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The Flat Mountain Girls
flatmountaingirls.com
The Flat Mountain Girls are a high-energy old-time string band based in Portland, Oregon.
The Flats are known for tight, raw three-part harmonies, powerful fiddling, and performances that explode with irrepressible glee and bawdy humor.
Their repertoire includes arrangements of Carter Family classics, traditional songs from the Southern mountains, cowboy yodels, romping fiddle tunes, and the occasional original, combining tremendous enthusiasm with great respect for the old-time tradition.
With Lisa Marsicek playing fiddle, Rachel Gold on banjo, Nann Alleman on guitar and Laura Quigley on bass, the Flat Mountain Girls bring foot-stomping fun to every performance.
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The Jamie Stillway Trio
jamiestillway.com
Guitarist Jamie Stillway grew up on an apple orchard in rural Minnesota, and didn't begin her quest to play the guitar until she was 13 years old. As the old adage says, "better late than never," and indeed this held true for Stillway, who started studying classical guitar in high school while still attempting to master the great guitar riffs of the seventies. After receiving a degree in film studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Stillway put her dashed dreams of being an Oscar winning cinematographer aside, and began to study with the great ragtime and blues picker Kenny Sultan.
After a brief stint in Denver as a rhythm guitarist in a gypsy jazz group, Stillway relocated to Portland, Oregon. In 2002, she formed an acoustic guitar duo with resonator slide man, Ben Bonham, and the duo snared serious accolades from all corners. As music critic Don Campbell of the Oregonian aptly reported, "Jamie Stillway not only comps big, fat, swinging and expensive jazz chords but picks with a ferocity that would make Django proud. If she's not grinning ear to ear during her solos, she should be. Her technique is commanding and artful, and she possesses a gypsy soul that would be at home in 1930s Paris, or busking on the streets of Dallas".
In 2005, Stillway released her debut solo CD, "Mell of a Hess," which featured several guests musicians, including upright bassist Tim Renner and drummer Sean Moultrie. After a successful solo tour of Austria and Germany, in which Stillway received an endorsement from Stevens Guitar of Munich, Stillway returned to the states, and has been appearing around the Pacific Northwest with Renner and Moultrie as the Jamie Stillway Trio. Although the three musicians have been working together only a short time, the group has been garnering great reviews, and not just from family members.
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