Music

Sydney Guillaume – a true musical genius living in Portland

Sydney Guillaume, a pianist, composer and clinician who lives in Portland, has introduced Haitian culture and storytelling to the world by threading it throughout the classical music he scores and composes. Guillaume is a true musical genius. He’s presented at the Lincoln Center in New York, Carnegie Hall and the BBC (just to scratch the […]

/ November 28, 2021

Elly Swope and her Idea

Elly Swope is a recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and Portland mainstay. Swope’s debut EP, It Feels the Same Everytime, released on Brooklyn/Houston label Rue Defense, garnered acclaim from local and national publications, received airplay on Portland-based stations, including XRAY, Freeform, and OPB, and was featured on the 2019 PDX Pop Now! compilation. We are hoping to […]

/ November 27, 2021

Kyle Craft – a true songwriter living in Portland

Kyle Craft may have been born in Shreveport, LA, but he lives in Portland, which is perfect because he’s a wordsmith genius and Portland is a songwriter’s haven. NPR wrote about his music, saying it has “striking imagery, rich wordplay, and a rambling poetic energy,” and that’s pretty much spot on in our book. Have […]

/ November 27, 2021

10 Questions + 1 with Moon and Bike

We caught up with Portland band Moon and Bike (Boone and Michael, the band’s name is a play on words) and asked them 10 questions +1. The duo started writing together during the pandemic and published their debut album in 2020. Their sophomore venture is currently in the works so we asked them the hard […]

/ November 20, 2021

A True, Haunting Story, Put to Song, by Portland’s Band: Wonderly

The hauntingly beautiful song Bayocean is based on the true story of Francis Drake Mitchell, a wide-eyed young man who purchased the first lots of what was to be “The Atlantic City of the West” from land dealers, T.B. Potter & Son. Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk, who make up the duo Wonderly, were so moved […]

/ November 20, 2021

Portland’s Blitzen Trapper takes you on a trip you didn’t know you needed: Magical Thinking

Portland’s Blitzen Trapper usually merges elements of country, folk, Southern rock, and progressive Americana. Their album, “Holy Smokes Future Jokes” (released last year), seems to be pure Indie-rock mixed with a bit of indie-folk. Put it on repeat and stare out the window as the luscious sounds take you on a trip you didn’t know […]

/ November 20, 2021

Pink Martini puts the Portland into Santa Baby

Eartha Kitt might have put the oompah and oh la la into Santa Baby, but Pink Martini has put the Portland into it. Listen! Santa Baby version by Pink Martini w/ lyrics Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree For me Been an awful good girl Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney […]

/ November 16, 2021

Portland Country Alt: Rose Gerber & Sweet Relief – The Fall (with lyrics)

Portland Country Alt: Rose Gerber & Sweet Relief – The Fall Gerber sounds the way we think we sound when we’re belting it out in the shower, sure as day we should go on the road. For Portlanders who love a good, solid, amazing female voice that’ll bring you to your knees (think Linda Ronstadt, […]

/ November 12, 2021

Portland Indie Band: Les Gold’s song Oh, Wolf (with lyrics)

Portland Indie Band: Les Gold’s song Oh, Wolf Hunting around for good, homegrown Portland music, we found Les Gold on TikTok. Then we went exploring and found this official video of their song, Oh, Wolf. We read the comments before we played the video (sometimes we do that first) and fell over at a comment: […]

/ November 11, 2021

We’re Obsessed. Portland Musician Kaj Izora

Kaj Izora –  Boogie Man never sounded so good! We ran across Boogie Man on TikTok and became obsessed. This song is like if Paolo Conte’s song Via Con Me married Louis Jordan’s Saturday Night Fish Fry and made a baby. Obscure references? Maybe! But classics you should look up if you don’t know them. So […]

/ November 11, 2021

Portland Music: Nick Arneson’s beautiful Holding On

Portland Music: Nick Arneson’s Hold On Nick Arneson might be one of Portland’s best singer/songwriters. We ❤️ him. It seems as if every time we crank up our Spotify to discover new songwriters, we find that their music and lyrics are great, but the singing wrecks it. There are so many good songs out there […]

/ November 11, 2021

Portland Music: Strange & the Familiars and their song Pie (lyrics)

Strange & the Familiars Stephanie Strange – Portland Songwriter and her band It’s been a hard year and a half for this world. A virus and senseless deaths because of it. A divided country. The rich getting richer and… well, you know the drill. So what’s a person to do? Maybe create a new world? […]

/ November 10, 2021

Oregon’s Band Moon and Bike: Nearer Sky (this should be a soundtrack)

This is the kind of music that should be playing in the background when you’re getting ready to see someone you haven’t seen in a long time, then you see them, and your heart swells, and the music rises and hovers right there in that first sweet moment of reconnection. So, yeah, don’t call this […]

/ November 10, 2021

This Should Probably be Portland’s Theme Song: I Lost My Beer (with lyrics)

I Lost My Beer Song lyrics and some background. The Incredible Heat Machine is homegrown, raw, Oregon music that was recorded live at the OK Theatre in Enterprise, just after the band, TK and The Holy Know-Nothings came off the road from touring. Lead vocalist and songwriter, Taylor Kingman, is nothing short of a literary […]

/ November 10, 2021

Portland’s TK & The Holy Know Nothings – Hell of a Time (with lyrics)

Portland’s very own TK & The Holy Know Nothings Song Hell of a Time (with lyrics) When they aren’t on the road, frontman and songwriter Taylor Kingman and his band of fellow working-class musicians, The Holy Know-Nothings, can often be found hanging out at the Laurelthirst Public House, Portland’s oldest independent music venue. And if […]

/ November 10, 2021

Portland-formed band, Reyna Tropical

If you’re a fan of music, period, go ahead and jump onboard the Reyna Tropical train, because there’s just so much here to love. Fabi Reyna, (vocals and guitar), was living in Portland when she called her musical partner, Sumohair (percussions, backup vocals, more), to join her and together they formed Reyna Tropical. The music […]

/ November 9, 2021

Portland Band: Growing Pains—Song: Orange Sunshine

Orange Sunshine by Growing Pains Growing Pains is a Portland homegrown band that doesn’t really fit into a category – and that’s a good thing. It’s a band that shows what Portland musicians do best—produce wildly, original music. Of course, people like to reference connections, so categories like Emo and Indie will probably be the […]

/ November 8, 2021

WL (WellWell)- Portland Homegrown Ethereal Musicians

WL (pronounced WellWell) is a Portland, Oregon band that produces some of the sweetest ethereal music out there. For those well-versed in ethereal music, think Máire Brennan, but switch the Irish lilt with the winds from the Oregon Coast. For those who don’t know much about ethereal music, WL’s song, Waters On My Side is […]

/ November 4, 2021

Portland Homegrown R&B – Veana Baby’s Honey Dip

Veana Baby. She’s a folk singer, a poet, a rhythm and blues musician. And a self-proclaimed wanderer. Portland is not only her home, but it is her inspiration. Listen to Honey Dip (feat. Sotaé). Think Marvin Gaye meets Rhianna with a little Amy Winehouse thrown in. Hers are songs that speak to your soul in […]

/ November 4, 2021

Blind Pilot – an Oregon Indie Band

Music made in Oregon – we have so much of the good stuff. Give Blind Pilot’s Packed Powder a go. Click the video above and sing along with the lyrics below. Best way to start the day! Packed Power (lyrics) courtesy of Blind Pilot I started working at the second hand, I thought it would […]

/ November 3, 2021