Horse Feathers

Some quick true/false facts about the band Horse Feathers and their new album, So It Is With Us:

1. The record was partially recorded in a barn in a beautiful pastoral setting in rural Oregon
(true, but hasn't everybody done this now?)

2. The band lives in Portland, OR 
(also true, and they are consciously and unconsciously living breathing stereotypes just like the 
ones portrayed in Portlandia)

3. Horse Feathers last album charted on Billboard by selling fewer records than they had in the past 
(true, but maybe more a comment on the music industry as a whole?)

4. For this album, the band was influenced by the following: Pentangle, Talk Talk, Paul Simon, The Band, Van Morrison, John Wesley Harding era Bob Dylan, Desire era Bob Dylan, and Abner Jay (not what you would have guessed, right?) 

Justin Ringle, the man behind all ten years of Horse Feathers, has the following to say about the making of this album, and the current state of his band:

"I wanted to stop. I did all the touring for my fourth record – "Cynic's New Year" – and ended the year 2012 disillusioned and defeated. I didn't touch my guitar for months, which was the longest I had gone in about 15 years. I thought that my career in music was over and wondered if I even wanted to do it anymore. After an arduous period of self-doubt and discovery, I finally arrived at the enlightened idea that maybe it should just be a little more fun. I had grown weary of talking to people after shows who said that my last record "helped them through their divorce". I have always been flattered by that sort of thing, but I realized what I wanted to hear was how my last record helped them "have a great weekend". If you have heard any of my previous records you will realize that this transformation from "divorce" band to "weekend" band would be a tall order. And it was! I wouldn't say we've become a "party band" overnight, but I certainly tried to change things a bit.

I enlisted friends to play with me that I trusted and had known for years. Along with longtime bandmates Nathan Crockett (strings/mandolin) and Dustin Dybvig (percusion/drums/keys), I threw Justin Power (bass/vocals) into the mix to have an honest to god rhythm section for the first time. With Lauren Vidal on cello and Brad Parsons singing harmonies, we played an impromptu show at Sasquatch and people liked it. We liked it, and the unusual feeling that I had after that show – which I think is referred to as "joy" – became something I wanted to experience again. I shared more. I stopped editing myself as much. The joy of playing live became its own reward, and I dared myself to allow that joy to shape the songwriting. In the end, I was able to let it go, and I don't own it anymore. Which also feels like joy. That's the way it was, and so it is with us."

Thanks

The six-piece dark soul/rock'n'roll ensemble, Thanks, recently returned from a 22-date tour of Europe. A busy year for the up-and-coming act, this second tour – which included dates in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic – followed the independent release of their first full length album Blood Sounds in January and the band's first European tour this spring.

Now home, Thanks has immediately set to work on new material. They are currently recording two new singles and a music video for each. Last week's video shoot for "Bad Tattoos" brought the band to iconic Chinatown dive Magic Gardens. Stay tuned for its release in early 2015.

Thanks is no stranger to their local Portland music scene. The band is made up of members from myriad former musical endeavors, which ranged from folk-twinged ballads, to dance electronic, to girl group garage punk. While keeping these eclectic influences close to heart, Thanks has carved out its niche as a distinct new voice within Portland indie music. Elements of soul, R&B and early rock'n'roll blend seamlessly with catchy indie-pop hooks and modern dark synth tones.

Portland Mercury music editor Ned Lannamann raves, "I'm not the first to point out how six-piece Portland band Thanks incorporates soul into their decidedly black-hearted indie rock. Thanks' music is vital, gripping, and different. Indeed, Blood Sounds is an apt name for this terrific, fiery collection, as the music is bloody and bruised, forming tightly controlled tantrums of melody and rhythm, marshaled by Jimi's commanding voice. Consider Thanks' Blood Sounds the first great Portland album of 2014."

The success of their earlier 2014 tour, which included a performance on Balcony TV Vienna, airplay on Austria's hit-making radio station FM4, and glowing reviews from various European music magazines, prompted the band's return overseas. Schwarzataler-Online asserts, "The band Thanks is THE HOT newcomer from the US." Austrian magazine Subtext calls the album, "a work that goes immediately into the bloodstream while listening. Blood Sounds is a multi-faceted release with the best voice I've heard in recent months. I can't recommend this album enough!" Kronen Zeitung predicts, "The future belongs to the soulful indie rock sextet, Thanks. With their debut album, Blood Sounds, they did a great job creating an interesting mixture of traditional American rock'n'roll, southern soul, and modern electro references. [Blood Sounds] will keep your ears asking for more."