Tag: Portland

Fernando Viciconte is set to release his 9th LP, Traitors Table, on June 21 and it promises to be his most personal and provocative effort to date. Co-written and recorded with long-time cohort Luther Russell (Those Pretty Wrongs) in the space of a week, this is Fernando’s first new LP since 2015’s Leave The Radio On. The autobiographical “I Don’t Know”, was the first single , premiered by Glide Magazine. In it, Fernando wails about coming to the U.S. as an immigrant child and how—after growing up identifying as a proud American—he felt the acute, nauseating fear of being sent back to a country he never really knew. This was followed by the second single, “The Longest Wait”, premiered at Pop Matters.

The latest single, “Hey, Darlene”, strips it down to the bare essentials – guitar, hand percussion, and Fernando’s golden voice. Viciconte describes the track as “a ballad about a working class couple who have been forgotten about by a technological world that they no longer fit into. They still long for The American Dream that no longer exist and they naively believe that one day they will be able to take a seat at the Traitors Table.”

The record will be available June 21 on LP, CD and digital formats. In in addition to standard Black Vinyl, the LP will be available as a Limited-Edition Blood Red and Black splatter version (100 copies). You can pre-order the record here.

4th single from upcoming LP, The Question

Anna Tivel is set to release her 4th LP, The Question, on April 19 and it promises to be her most groundbreaking effort to date. Produced by multi-instrumentalist, Shane Leonard, the 3 singles released thusfar have all pushed the boundaries of Tivel’s oeuvre in unexpected ways. The stark piano and swirling keyboards of “Fenceline” and the haunting synthesizer of “The Question” are surprisingly perfectly at home, considering that these are folks songs at heart, and the lush strings of “Minneapolis” are the perfect compliment to Anna’s vocal.

The latest single from the LP, “Worthless”, continues along this vein but takes it all one step further. The gritty, pulsating bass line is the perfect backdrop, creating a palpable tension that is so thick you can almost taste the smoke. Couple that with a bluesy off-kilter guitar and Mellotron solo and it’s easy to forget that this started as a folk song.

“This is a song about labels”, Tivel says, “about how difficult it is to shake a word, a name, a category heard over and over until it feels like it must be true. It’s about the power of the things we call each other.” Fittingly, this just may be the track, and certainly the album, that moves Anna Tivel beyond the reach of conventional labels and places her in the company of the great songwriters of her generation.

The record will be available April 19 on LP, CD and digital formats. In in addition to standard Black Vinyl, the LP will be available as a Limited-Edition Marble Yellow version (150 copies). You can pre-order the record here.

This morning (11/17/17), The Parson Red Heads are releasing a new single, “TV Surprise”, recorded during their Blurred Harmony sessions. Accompanying this single is an announcement that the album will be released in a digital Expanded Edition on 12/8 via Fluff and Gravy Records, featuring 2 bonus tracks – “TV Surprise” and “It’s Hard For Me To Say”.

Here’s how Evan Way describes the new single…

“TV Surprise” is a song that’s been around for probably 10 years at least, maybe more. It’s got a real Felt / Feelies vibe to it that I really like – those are two bands that we were just starting to get into around the time I wrote the song, so it’s no surprise that was coming through. The abstract feel of the lyrics is the thing that ended up making it not a perfect fit for inclusion on the Blurred Harmony album sequence, but Danny (O’Hanlon, who mixed the record), did a really great job creatively mixing the song – he added a lot of the textures that make this recording of the song have such a cool atmosphere and mood.

Fun fact – the ambient sound drone that opens the song is a combination of a Casio Keyboard, vacuum cleaner, bass guitar, and Evan’s 5 year old son George recorded into my Tascam 4-tracker and slowed down.

In Today’s installment of NPR’s Songs We Love, Anna Powers highlights Anna Tivel’s “Illinois”, from her most recent LP, Small Believer.  “A compassionate chronicler of those lives often overlooked, Tivel is simultaneously clear-eyed and open to dreaming”, Powers suggest. We couldn’t think of a more fitting description.

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Anna Tivel’s fourth studio album ‘Small Believer’ is a collection of patchwork stories drawn from conversations with strangers, on the road, in restaurants, bars, and rest stops. Produced by guitar mastermind Austin Nevins (Josh Ritter, Anais Mitchell), the songs float on a raft of electric guitar, pump organ, and sparse bass and drums.

‘Small Believer’ is spacious and honest, a lyric-driven exploration of the things that move within us. Tivel takes great care with every syllable and every story, chipping away until what remains is blindingly true and deeply affecting.

The record is available now on lp, cd and digital formats, as well as at Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.

Limited edition gold vinyl, hand-numbered to 125 is in short supply.

Today, we are proud to announce the release of Jeffrey Martin’s One Go Around.

After Jeffrey Martin released 2014’s Dogs In The Daylight, the Portland Mercury posited that he “might be the best songwriter in Portland.” No Depression called the record “as close to a masterpiece as a folk album from an emerging singer-songwriter can get.” One Go Around is the long-awaited follow-up to that record.

There’s a quiet dignity to the 12 new tracks on One Go Around, but a kind of quiet desperation as well. With subjects ranging from the shocking story of William Burroughs’ casual murder of his wife during a drunken party, to themes of love found and lost, the stories hit hard, because we know we may not be far off from them ourselves in this time of uncertainty.

The record is available now on LP, CD and digital formats, at the Fluff and Gravy Store, Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.

In addition to black vinyl there is a Limited Edition run on Red vinyl, hand-numbered to 123.

 

 

Small Believer is Anna Tivel’s 3rd full-length solo release. It’ finds the Portland-based songwriter hitting yet another high mark, with masterful production from Austin Nevins. The songs on Small Believer were written while Tivel was touring, but also in-between shifts at the odd waitressing job, or driving Meals on Wheels in her spare time. She has an extraordinarily keen eye for recasting the images she sees into song, so that a homeless man drawing comfort each day while sitting and watching a building go up, brick by brick, becomes the song “Riverside Hotel.” A chance conversation with a neighbor, also a waitress, who makes an empty promise becomes “Last Cigarette.” Each image or moment that burned itself into Tivel’s memories becomes a launching pad for a larger story that she spins into song.
Listen to the singles “Illinois” and “Dark Chandelier“.

The record is available for pre-order in all formats,including limited edition gold vinyl (limited to 100 hand numbered copies), black vinyl, cd, and digitally.

Way back around 2009, when The Harmed Brothers were still in their infancy, Eugene-based percussionist Adan Morehouse received a phone call from North Carolina. It was Ray Vietti on the phone, saying that they’d like him to join the band, and that they needed him immediately to hit the road with them. He had played in a band that had opened for them a few times, and had struck up a friendship with Ray and Alex Salcido. Problem was, Adam had a job that he didn’t feel comfortable leaving, and was planning on going to barbering school, so he turned them down.  2 weeks later Ray and Alex were knocking on his door, and they weren’t going away without a “yes’. Reluctantly, Adam quit his job, sold his stuff, and hit the road. In the end, the touring life proved to be too stressful for Adam, and his fear of tornadoes (made problematci by the band constantly touring the Midwest) proved to be too much for him. He ended up leaving the band and following up on his original plan. He was going to barbering school.

Fast forward to 2017… After working for other people for years, Adam and his friend Kurt Foster decide to open their own place, Morehouse Barbers, in the North Portland neighborhood of St. Johns. On March 3, the shop opened it’s doors, and of course, The Harmed Brothers were there for the grand opening to record a video. 

Check it out here!

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wTsAuOvzW8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Stream and purchase up the new album here

On Saturday, October 8, Fernando Viciconte will be inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. To celebrate, we are releasing a special animated video that Trizz Studio (Barcelona) lovingly created for “Save Me”, the lead track off of 2015’s Leave The Radio On. The video explores the soul and essence of a young boy’s inner creative battles. The boy protagonist, is a sensitive, young child who is overwhelmed by his own imagination and the endless possibilities of self-expression. The core story is shaped with a naïve simplicity and hints at the places where inspiration evolves.

Congratulations, Fernando!

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQvfKB4JKrk[/youtube]

We are pleased to announce that Anna Tivel has won the Telluride Troubadour contest at the 43rd annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival! It is an incredible honor to be acknowledged among all of the other amazing musicians that made up this year’s finalists.

Congratulations to Anna, and a huge thank you to all of you who have supported Anna and continue to inspire her.

You can stream her latest record, Heroes Waking Up, here.

 

Along with our partners Decor Records in Europe, Fluff and Gravy Records is excited to announce that a new record from Richmond Fontaine, titled You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To, is available today.  This Richmond Fontaine’s tenth full-length studio record, and it will be the seminal alt-country band’s swan song.

As songwriter Willy Vlautin puts it, “We all wanted to make one more record after The High Country. Dave moving with his family to Denmark stopped us for a long while, but we were dead set on one more. I wrote You Can’t Go Back… to give an end piece for all the characters who inhabited the world of RF over the years. Throughout the new record are hints of past RF albums and nods to past locations that the characters had found themselves in, and always they’re drifting and searching, hoping for a decent place to land. In the end they try to go back home where they were when RF first began. It’s where the characters started and now where they’ll end.”

“RF has had a great 20+ year run and these guys are my best pals so it’s a tough decision but the right one. We’ll tour this record for as long as we can and then we’ll a have a knock down drag-out party, wake up with a hangover, and move on.”

Here is what the media is saying:

“Every song is like a mini Coen Brothers movie… Dramatic and poetic, you’ll sorely miss Richmond Fontaine when they’re gone” –Q Magazine

“9/10” “as good as anything he’s ever written” – UNCUT
“the band’s final reading approaches perfection; an Americana capstone” – Pop Matters

 

 
The record is available in digital/cd/lp formats atiTunes, Amazon, Fluff and Gravy Records, or at your favorite record store.

On March 18, alt-country/post-punk pioneers Richmond Fontaine will release “You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To“, announcing that it will be their final album after a 20+ year run. Rather than a nostalgic drive down memory lane, the record offers some of songwriter, Willy Vlautin‘s most powerful work to date. Featuring long-time members, (drummer) Sean Oldham and (guitarist) Dan Eccles, the band is rounded out by Freddy Trujillo on bass this time around (following founding member and bassist Dave Harding’s move to Denmark). UNCUT gives the record a “9/10”, calling it “as good as anything (Willy) has ever written”, and Q Magazine said “Every song is like a mini Coen Brothers movie… Dramatic and poetic, you’ll sorely miss Richmond Fontaine when they’re gone”

As Willy puts it, “I wrote You Can’t Go Back… to give an end piece for all the characters who inhabited the world of RF over the years. Throughout the new record are hints of past RF albums and nods to past locations that the characters had found themselves in, and always they’re drifting and searching, hoping for a decent place to land. In the end they try to go back home where they were when RF first began. It’s where the characters started and now where they’ll end.”

The record includes 13 tracks and is available on CD (with 8 page lyric booklet) and LP (with insert). The deluxe version of the lp, featuring a gatefold jacket, 180gm vinyl, poster, and a cd with 8 bonus tracks is nearly sold out. Get your copy from Fluff and Gravy Records (North America) or Decor Records (Europe).

The band will be embarking on a European Tour in April, and will be planning US dates for summer of 2016. “We’ll tour this record for as long as we can and then we’ll a have a knock down drag-out party, wake up with a hangover, and move on”, says Vlautin.  You can follow their victory lap here. Don’t miss it.

On July 17, Mike Coykendall released his latest record, Half Past, Present Pending via Fluff and Gravy Records. American Standard Time calls it “a slice of seriously fuzzy, spaced-out folk music”, which seems a pretty accurate description. Today, we are happy to present the first video from the record, for the ballad “Hard Landing”.

The video was produced by Coykendall and long-time friend (and fellow Portland musician), Charlie Maxton.  The song itself is one of deep personal reflection.  “If you’re lucky, you can procrastinate dealing with certain issues for quite some time,”  says Coykendall. “Youth moreso than middle age. Then, if you’re really lucky, you live long enough that you gotta deal and it’s scary. It’s also liberating and empowering.”

 The video is dedicated to or “The lucky ones who got to spend a little extra time at the county fair. The ride isn’t over till the big carnie kicks you off.”

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKRhIARw5Xo[/youtube]

It’s finally here! Today is the official release day for Fernando Viciconte’s long-awaited 7th full-length release, “Leave The Radio On“. Even better, KEXP featured the first single “Save Me” on their Song of the Day podcast. Whoop!

The album, which features Peter Buck on 8 of the 11 tracks as well as Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5, The Baseball Project, Young Fresh Fellows) has been 3 years in the making. This is a new chapter in Viciconte’s ever-evolving musical trajectory, a career marked by creative integrity and an almost painful honesty which attracts fans from high and low that still believe in the redemptive power of rock and roll.

He will be touring the US through the end of 2015, and will embark on European Tours in early February and April of 2016.

Available now on LP, CD and digital formats. Look for it at your favorite record store, on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify or get it directly from Fluff and Gravy Records.

On Sept 18, Fernando Viciconte will release his 7th solo album, titled Leave The Radio On (Fluff and Gravy Records).  Featuring Peter Buck (REM) on mandolin, and guitar, as well as Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five, The Baseball Project, The Young Fresh Fellows), the record stands to be Fernando’s finest to date.  The record has been highly anticipated since KEXP featured an early single from the record, “The Dogs”, as their Song of The Day back in October of 2014.

After a series of health problems that prevented him from touring for the better part of a decade, Fernando is finally healthy and eager to hit the road. “Most folks who tour at this level at the age of 46, they’re burnt out,” he says. “I have a new lease on life.”

 

 

Here is where you can catch him this Fall:

Aug 28th |Seattle, WA | High Dive Seattle (Record Release Party) | 9:30pm | $10
Aug 29th | Portland, OR | Star Theater (Record Release Party) w/ Mike Coykendall, The Delines | 9pm | $10
Sept 5th | Portland, OR | PDX Film Fest Solo performance | 5pm
Sept 6th | Troutdale, OR | Edgefield Winery | 7pm |FREE
Sept 15th | Salt Lake City, UT| The Heavy Metal Shop *
Sept 16th | Colorado Springs, CO | Triple Nickel | 9pm | $5 *
Sept 17th | Denver, CO | 3 Kings Tavern *
Sept 18th | Fort Collins, Co | House Show *
Sept 20th | Boise, ID | House Show *
Sept 26th | Hillsboro, OR | Rock Creek Tavern | 9pm | FREE
Oct 3rd | Portland, OR | White Eagle
Oct 5th | Sacramento, CA | The Press Club
Oct 6th | Santa Margarita, CA | Dunbar Brewing
Oct 7th | Santa Barbara | The Seven Bar
Oct 8th | Los Angeles, CA | Cafe Cinema
Oct 9th | Morrow Bay, CA | Libertine Pub
Oct 10th | Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place
Oct 11th | San Francisco, CA | Thee Parkside
Oct 16th | Salem, OR | Boon’s Treasurey
Oct 31st | Portland, OR | Rock Creek Tavern

 * with Michael Dean Damron and Mishka Shubaly

Go get it!

On July 17, Mike Coykendall released his 4th solo record and 22nd overall, Half Past, Present Pending.  American Standard Time called it “a slice of seriously fuzzy, spaced-out folk music”, which seems a pretty accurate description. With this record, Mike had the idea to strip things down (mostly) to his live “rig”, which finds him playing an oversized Kay guitar, a tin can kick drum, and hi hat, all run through layers of distortion and delay. Of course, he took a few liberties in the studio, but the point remains that sounds on Half Past, Present Pending are pretty much what you’re going to get when you see a Mike Coykendall show.  If you’d like to see it for yourself, now’s your chance…

Here is when Mike will be in your neck of the woods:

Aug 29 | Portland, OR | Star Theatre, w/Fernando (record release) & The Delines | 9pm | $10
Sept 01| Pendleton, OR | Great Pacific | 7pm | Free
Sept 02 | Salt Lake City, UT |  The Heavy Metal Shop (in-store)
Sept 03 | Denver, CO | Syntax Physic Opera, w/Porlolo | 9pm | $7
Sept 05 | Wichita, KS | Barleycorn’s, w/ Nikki Modelmog & Michael Carmody | 9pm | $5
Sept 09 | Lawrence, KS | Replay Lounge, w/The Harrisonics | 10pm
Sept 10 | Omaha, NE | Pageturner’s
Sept 12 |Milwaukee, WI | Linneman’s
Sept 14 | Rock Island, IL | Rozz-Tox
Sept 15 | Iowa City, IA | Trumpet Blossom
Sept 16 | Bloomington, IN | Player’s Pub, w/Opal Fly & Kapow | 6pm | $4
Sept 17 | Cincinnati, OH  | The Southgate House w/Happy Chichester | 8pm | $10
Sept 19 | Columbus, OH | Natalie’s, w/Happy Chichester | 10pm | $10
Sept 21 | Ithica, NY |  Sacred Root Kava Bar w/Nate Marshall
Sept 25 | Portland, ME | The Bayside Bowl, w/Chris Robley
Sept 26 | Providence, RI | Machines with Magnets, w/Death Vessel
Sept 27 | Newport, RI | The Parlor w/Bob Kendall
Sept 29 | Brooklyn, NY | Pete’s Candy Store, w/Gabriel Mintz
Sept 30 | (The Orchard – NYC) + Boston, MA @|Hostelling International, w/ Gabriel Mintz
Oct 01 | (WERS Boston) + Winthrop, MA | Blackstrap BBQ, w/Gabriel Mintz
Oct 02 | Middlebury, VT | Middlebury College, w/Gabriel Mintz
Oct 03 | Burlington/Winooski, VT | The Monkey House
Oct 06 | Chattanooga, TN | JJ’s Bohemia, w/Charles Allison
Oct 07 | Nashville, TN | The Stone Fox, w/Chris Scruggs
Oct 08 | St. Louis, MO | Foam, w/Bobby Stevens
Oct 10 | Columbia, MO | Cafe Berlin
Oct 11 | Kansas City, MO | The Tank Room, w/Maria the Mexican | 7pm
Oct 12 | Wichita, KS | Kirby’s Beer Store | 7pm
Oct 14 |Albuquerque, NM | The Sister Bar, w/Wildewood 
Oct 17 | Morro Bay, CA | The Libertine Pub
Oct 18 | San Francisco, CA @ The Make Out Room w/Yea-ming & the Rumours
Oct 19 | San Francisco, CA @ The Make Out Room, w/Sad Bastards Club
Oct 23 | Portland, OR | Mississippi Studios, w/Annalisa Tornfelt & Michael Hurley | 8pm | $13
Oct 24 | Seaside, WA | The Sou’Wester Lodge
Oct 25 | Astoria, OR | Fort George Brewery, w/Bart Budwig

Hope to see you there!

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[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnY6MItXzVg[/youtube]

New Records from Fernando, Mike Coykendall, Drunken Prayer, and Vacilando

Happy summer everyone! It’s going to be a busy one for us here at Fluff and Gravy Records. We are excited to welcome two new artists to the family, long-time Argentinian troubadour, Fernando Viciconte, and newcomer Indie Rock/Ambient Soundscapers, Vacilando.

Just to get you started, here is your 2015 summer anthem, from Mike Coykendall, as presented by Glide Magazine.

Read more about all of the release below! Remember that all of these records can be preordered here, and that shipping charges ONLY apply to the first item that you order.

The Vacilando and Fernando records are available as limited edition colored vinyl (hand numbered to 100), so be sure to get those before they go if it’s your bag.

Thanks so much for all of your support!

Much love,
John and Chad

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Half Past, Present Pending is Coykendall’s 4th solo album,and his second on Fluff and Gravy Records. A departure from 2012’s Chasing Away The Dots, which featured numerous guests (M Ward, Ben Gibbard, Zooey Deschanel) and full band arrangements, this record is all Coykendall. The goal was to bring the listener closer to his live performances, and his setup which he affectionately calls “the rig”, consisting of an oversized Kay electric guitar, a tin can kick drum and a huge set of high-hat cymbals, all awash in delay and reverb. Half Past, Present Pending mixes excellent new compositions (check out “Hard Landing”) with tracks from his back catalogue (check out “East of Cheney” or “Spacebaker Blues”) along with fresh interpretations of other artists (he covers Roger Miller, Syd Barrett etc).

Available July 17, 2015 on lp, cd, and digital formats

Sample a track and pre-order the record here!

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Hailing from Portland, OR, Vacilando might accurately be called the Fluff and Gravy house band. At it’s core, the band is a vehicle for the songs of John Shepski (FnG Head Honcho), accompanied by Chad Lanning (FnG partner, photographer, and social media guru) and Juniana Lannign (FnG Studios lead engineer).

Their debut record, While They Were Dancing, is slow and atmospheric, breathing deeply with vast empty spaces underneath heart-in-hand lyrics and a humble delivery. The band is fond of describing their record alternately as Bummercore or Bleak Midwestern Soundscapes, but just when the listener is drawn in and seemingly transported to another time and place, the band brings them crashing back to earth in a sonic explosion of screaming guitars and feedback. The music feels at once nostalgic and timeless, all while remaining grounded in the present.

RIYL: Yo La Tengo, Low, Fennesz, Vic Chesnutt

Available July 17, 2015 on lp, cd, and digital formats

Sample a track and pre-order the record here!

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The Devil & The Blues sounds at first like a party record. But fans of The Reigning Sound, The Sadies or Freakwater will recognize the droll narratives of sadness, rebellion and wild redemption on this slightly psychedelic trip through the history of American roots music. Here, once again, Morgan Geer finds common ground at the peculiar crossroads of gospel, soul and 60’s psych.

There’s a real connection to the aforementioned bands too. Along for the ride with Geer is the rhythm section of drummer Lance Wille and bassist, David Wayne Gay, both former members of The Reigning Sound (Geer, Gay and Willie, as “The Unholy Trio”, have a crazy popular video of Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise” that Bloodshot Record’s released a while back). Dallas Good, from The Sadies, drops by to play some spectacular guitar.

Rowdy, unswerving and often outrageously funny, The Devil & The Blues, is the new old sound of Drunken Prayer.

Available August 21, 2015 on cd, and digital formats

Sample a track and pre-order the record here!

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3 years in the making, the album Leave The Radio On a virtual who’s who of Portland’s finest musicians, including Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey as well as members of M.Ward, Elliott Smith, Richmond Fontaine and The Delines. Fernando has come a long way since Magnet Magazine named him one of the ten Best New Artists of the Year in 2006. This record represents the next step in his ever-evolving musical trajectory, a career marked by creative integrity and an almost painful honesty which attracts fans from high and low that still believe in the redemptive power of rock and roll.

Last fall, Fernando dropped an early 7” single from the LP as a preview of what is to come.  The a-side (“The Dogs”) is the second track on the record, and was featured by KEXP as their song of the day.

Available September 18, 2015 on cd, and digital formats

Sample a track and pre-order the record here!