Blind Pilot’s 2008 debut 3 Rounds and a Sound came out when I was a freshman in high school, years before I’d ever considered moving to Oregon. The album’s 11 tracks of gently strummed acoustic guitar, banjo, horns, and frontman Israel Nebeker’s tender lyrics served as soft indie folk lullabies for my raging teen angst.
Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski left their home in Portland to spend three months recording the demos for 3 Rounds and a Sound in a warehouse in Astoria. In a 2009 interview with LAist, Nebeker explained that the record’s title was inspired by a traditional Chinese phrase: “The expression is something you say to a newlywed couple. They represent the necessities you need in life: a round bike wheel, a round clock face, a round spool of thread, and the sound is radio. You need to have all of these essential needs met in order to get married.”