Old school country rock from Portland Oregon band.
Stars of Cascadia announce themselves as “an alt-country band from Portland, Oregon playing vintage country rock with a psychedelic flair evoking Neil Young, Gram Parsons…” and this pretty much hits the nail on the head, with a classic old school feel throughout. ‘Stars of Cascadia’ is the band’s third record, their first in five years, following their 2016 Laurel Canyon debut, ‘Riverside Skyline’, and self-described “conceptual psychedelic folk-rock album” ‘Fairfield’ released in 2019.
The rocking side of the band features in the opening track ‘Cardboard, Paper, and Film (You Gotta Love)’, with a great opening guitar riff, guitar solo, and memorable chorus “You gotta love!/ each one another/ you gotta love!/ sisters and brothers / you gotta love!/ forever and ever / you gotta love!/ I promised my mother”.
Bassist Paul Regan contributes lead vocals on the opening track, sharing vocal credits on the album with guitarists Scott Jeffries (who also plays pedal steel) and Allan Kaufman (the latter on ‘Lonely (You’ve Got Me Again)’ with the band lineup completed by John Nyen on fiddle, Mandy Allan on backing vocals and Michael Doying on drums, with additional credits to Paul Brainard on pedal steel and Brud Giles on percussion. ‘Canadian Whiskey’ leans to a sweeter country rock vibe, with Jeffries on lead vocals, and Allan on backing vocals, with prominent pedal steel, and a twang guitar instrumental. ‘Roll Me Over’ returns to an up-tempo rocking vibe, with some retro unison electric guitars, and upfront fiddle from Nyen adding flavour to the track.
The aforementioned psychedelic folk side to the band is evident on ‘Sittin’ With Stella’, downtempo and mellow with a nostalgic tone, with lyrics referencing Warren Zevon “Poor poor, pitiful me / gloom, despair, and agony/ daisy dukes are what I wanna see/ but the music was getting in me” and classic country “I will always love you Jolene/ honky-tonk heroes all lonesome and mean/ sad songs, and waltzes are what I wanna hear/ but they ain’t been selling this year.”
The lonely singer on the road is the theme of ‘Lonely (You’ve Got Me Again)’, downtempo with strummed acoustic intro, and fiddle and pedal steel solos, with Kaufman singing “It’s just lonely’s an old friend/ Out here on her own/ She just likes my company/ It’s not that I can’t love/ Or won’t love again/ Lonely just fits so comfortably.”
Lyrics throughout–with songwriting credits shared by Jeffries, Regan, and Kaufman–are a good fit to the genre, while retaining fresh takes on familiar themes, as on ‘Separate Ways’ “Pile up these letters and then set them all ablaze/ take a shot of whiskey – here’s to better days/guess the years have come between us/you’re from mars and I’m from venus/ but man you should have seen us/ ‘fore we went our separate ways.” There’s even a nod to prog rock on ‘Camp’, with its frequent tempo changes, and the feel of an extended jam, and Nyen’s fiddle summoning up the likes of East of Eden.
An eclectic mix, but firmly in the ‘vintage country rock’ stylistic box with lots to enjoy.
