This is the first chapter of my new Formative series, in which I recount in long form how certain artists or bands have had significant impact on my life, from a variety of vantage points: musically, personally, and through my career. In Chapter 1, I look at Death Cab for Cutie. We Have the Facts…
I’ve been living in Skagit County for nearing five years now, and I have yet to truly crack the Bellingham music scene. For non-locals, which is likely 99% of you readers, Bellingham is 30 minutes north of the town I call home. This means that it, for the most part, the vast majority of Bellingham’s…
I’m loving Adam Hill‘s latest sounds. Always one to produce the lighter side of folk, with soft acoustic songs, Two Hands, Tulips (his new LP) expands the minimal sound slightly with a broader range of songwriting and instrumentation, going so far as pairing folk with a dabbling of other genres.
Split releases are always a love-hate thing for me. On the love side, I’m always introduced to a new artist, such as Sam Humans in this case. Humans’ music is a modern style of biting folk rock, filled with wild guitar riffs. “Hate Is The New Love” begins this process with interesting, angular chords, which…
Magrane Hill is the project of two individuals, Travis Magrane and Adam Hill. These Bellingham artists blend Northwest folk with traits common to country. The group bases their sound around a sturdy acoustic guitar and drop in an accompanying keyboard, then front it with vocals not unfamiliar to the Washington town (Kasey Anderson, an artist…
I’ve lived in the land of tulips for damn near two years now, tucked away comfortably in the Skagit Valley, hidden in the northern and western most part of the continental United States. Aside from the more known K Records artists that reside in the nearby Anacortes, I know very little truly local music, which…
Bellingham by way of Chicago artist The Heligoats masters the power of pop songwriter sensibilities in their new album, Goodness Gracious (Greyday Records). The band is fronted by new Washington resident Chris Otepka, who wrote and recorded the band with Mike Mergenthaler, David James and Steven Mitchell. Collectively, they are The Heligoats, a band who…
In a man’s life, there is always one certainty that can confuse him, impress him, and make him cry for many reasons. Big Sur knows this to certainly be the female gender. Ladies. X Chromosomes. In other words – Women. God we sure do love them in all their complexity and beauty; they just exude…
Adam Hill‘s style of folk always donned the traditional styling so often seen as timeless within the centuries-long timeline the genre encompasses. Them Dirty Roads is, for the most part, no exception. But when the fiddles and acoustic guitar are removed, as found in opening track “Prelude”, something else happens — Hill produces a sound…
