Ben Salmon

The Ohio band gets closer with Happiness Hours.

JASON QUIGLEY For years, Marisa Anderson has lived a double life of sorts, as both one of the most skilled and adventurous solo guitar players on Earth, and also as a relative secret, hidden away in her longtime hometown of Portland. Even within the solo guitar scene—which has grown over the past decade—Anderson’s work often […]

The Portland-based solo guitar player reflects on finding personal peace in chaotic times.

James Rexroad It’s another overcast afternoon in the Willamette Valley, and Mike Scheidt is talking about growing up in Springfield, Oregon, and discovering heavy metal, punk rock, and the very real tension between those two scenes. “I was 13, getting into it all at once, but I also loved new wave because I wasn’t a […]

The Eugene band’s new LP pairs crushing doom with life-affirming beauty.

jason powers When Erik “Ripley” Johnson pitched his Wooden Shjips bandmates on recording their first album in five years, he did so gently. “What I proposed to them was the minimum commitment possible,” Johnson explains. “‘We’ll rehearse two or three weekends and go into the studio for five days. That’s all you have to commit […]

The psych band returns with the summery V.

JASON QUIGLEY Laura Veirs has plenty on her plate. The Portland-based singer/songwriter has two decades of wondrous albums to her name. She tours regularly. She’s a mother to two young children, and she’s married to busy record producer Tucker Martine, who works with big names like My Morning Jacket and Beth Orton. Two years ago, […]

Portland singer/songwriter Laura Veirs focuses her energy.

The Portland-born folk institution shares Appreciation.

One of the best albums to come out of Portland in 2017 was Turtlenecked’s Vulture, a collection of 10 ragged art-rock songs powered largely by the electric guitar and Harrison Smith’s emotionally raw howls and yelps. Buried near the record’s end is “Tummy,” a track that runs nearly seven minutes and works within a more […]