A couple of Americana artists I really like land in Portland - one this week and one next week. I highly recommend both!
First, this Wednesday, June 13 at 8 PM, it's Slaid Cleaves at the Old Church. Click HERE for more show information.
"I tend to think of songs as the whiskey of writing. Distilled down to the essence, powerful, concentrated, immediate. You can take it all in and really feel it in just seconds."
Now twenty-five years into his storied career, Cleaves' songwriting has never been more potent than on his new album Ghost on the Car Radio, out June 23.
The characters in Slaid Cleaves' songs live in unglamorous reality. They work dead-end jobs, they run out of money, they grow old, they hold on to each other (or not), and they die. With an eye for the beauty in everyday life, he tells their stories, bringing a bit of empathy to their uncaring world. Described as "terse, clear and heartfelt" (NPR Fresh Air), his songs speak to timeless truths. "I'm not an innovator. I'm more of a keeper of the flame," he says....
Ghost on the Car Radio is Cleaves' first release since 2013's Still Fighting the War, which was praised as "one of the year's best albums" by American Songwriter and "carefully crafted...songs about the struggles of the heart in hard times" by the Wall Street Journal. The New York Daily News called his music "a treasure hidden in plain sight," while the Austin Chronicle declared, "there are few contemporaries that compare. He's become a master craftsman on the order of Guy Clark and John Prine."
Next Friday, June 22, 2018 at 8 PM, it's the sublime Eilen Jewell and her band at the Alberta Rose! 
Crafting a unique style that mixes poetic ballads with swinging rockers, Eilen Jewell ranks among the best in the Americana genre today. As the reigning "Queen of the Minor Key," Jewell leads a tight quartet who blend influences of surf-noir, early blues, rockabilly, and 1960s-era rock and roll.
Over the course of a decade, Eilen and her band have toured relentlessly. They have performed for legions of fans from Boston to Boise and Madrid to Melbourne at festivals, theaters, rock clubs and coffeehouses. Eilen's fans marvel at her warmth, unique wit, and onstage humor alongside her beautiful songs and fiery performances.
Eilen and her band tear it up whenever they play the Rose.... Click HERE for more information.
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