Words & Music: Seadar Rose, Harper Rose Music (ASCAP)
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Dollars and dimes and whiskey shines,
Riding on that cold mountain breath.
Dollars and dimes and whiskey shines,
They don't tell of the words we kept.
But we roll on, we roll on.
There are no highways here, only dividing lines
Between goodbyes and what will be.
There are no fields of hope, but hands of grace
And the lanes bend and bow in our reach.
You ask for coffee, I beg for whiskey.
The fog of the night lingers in our day.
But Tennessee says she'll take us, she'll take us.
If only the stages played the same.
CH
Your heavy eyes blink back sparks
Of a southern fire churning bittersweet.
We burn wild in such a life
Release the chains that tie us to our needs.
Do you dream a road? Do you dream a home?
Is there a view you cannot believe?
Horizons end where we, we fall.
Now the wandering is the you, it is the me.
CH
"All my years are gone, faded one by one, washed into the grain," professes Seadar Rose in the opening lines of "Wrong the Right," the lead track on Screen Door Porch's self-titled debut album. Weaving poetic coincidence and certainty, the subtle rocker embraces the vulnerable truths within us all—a thread that surfaces throughout the album's twelve tracks. Stories steeped in misadventures, gambling, mountain solitude and struggle compose the varied grains of Screen Door Porch.
The duo of Screen Door Porch—Seadar Rose and Aaron Davis—deliver groove-injected Alt-Folk and soulful Americana, garnished with multi-instrumentation. This roots music combined with ambient textures, dirty slide guitar, and country-sweet harmonies outline a sound that is not quite acoustic.
Screen Door Porch left their home in Jackson Hole, Wyo., spending the winter months in Austin, TX to record, to perform at South by Southwest, and to tap into the wealth of talent that the Live Music Capitol has to offer. They searched out co-producer Britton Beisenherz (of Monahans), and entered Ramble Creek Studio with a strong foundation of material, which in just five days, evolved into an unimaginably fluid and fruitful collaboration.
“We really left ourselves behind for this one, letting each song take a path of its own rather than holding the reigns too tight," says Rose. Davis adds, “The songs on this record are like us, travelers—glimpses of what moved us, what we saw, and dreamed. A year ago we could not have made this record. It was born from moving around and growing musically closer as a band.”
After releasing a combined three EPs and three full-length albums with other projects, the duo formed Screen Door Porch as an outlet for the gritty folk songs they grew up on in the American South. The band has evolved from a side project to their main focus. It has been over three years, hundreds of shows, and thousands of miles since Rose (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin) and Davis (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, foot percussion, suitcase) found a connection that couldn’t be ignored.
Rose grew up in North Carolina, where she was exposed to the roots of Appalachian folk music. A vocalist before she ever picked up an instrument, she started performing and playing guitar after meeting Davis in Wyoming. During a songwriting stint in Austin, she recorded an EP with Austin guitarist/producer Rich Brotherton (of Robert Earl Keen). In 2009, Rose headlined the Women of Jackson Concert at the Center Theater in Jackson.
Davis hails from Kentucky, where he began writing poems in grade school. He picked up the guitar at age nineteen, inspired from the folk-rock of Dylan and The Band, as well as the blossoming jamband scene. Much of his twenties were spent in the unrivaled solitude of Wyoming's Teton Mountains, all the while exploring a multitude of music styles and instruments. His solo album Rear View Mirror was called "One of the Best Americana Releases of 2008" by Rootstime and it reached #16 on the Freeform American Roots Chart alongside Bob Dylan and Old Crow Medicine Show. Davis earned runner-up honors at the Dreams Acres Music Festival Songwriter Contest, and had one of his songs selected for the television series Road Trip Nation.
Rose and Davis have been fortunate to share concert bills with Willie Nelson, Wilco, Brian Wilson, Yonder Mountain String Band, James McMurtry, Grace Potter, Medeski Martin & Wood, Reckless Kelly, Henry Butler, Kaki King, Anne & Pete Sibley, Jalan Crossland, and many other inspiring groups.
Like their live performances, the twelve tracks on Screen Door Porch showcase a diversity of stripped-down acoustic songs and lush electric ensembles. They will play as a duo (with Davis on foot percussion and suitcase kick drum), trio (with drums), and quartet (with bass and drums) during their national Spring Tour that will put them on stages in ten states.
Step onto the Porch and be washed into the grain.
credits
released April 13, 2010
Produced by Screen Door Porch and Britton Beisenherz
All songs written by Seadar Rose and Aaron Davis.
All songs published by Yella Dog Records (ASCAP), Harper Rose Music (ASCAP)
Screen Door Porch…
Seadar Rose - Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Aaron Davis - Vocals, 6-string & 12-string Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Harmonica, Banjo, Electric Dobro, Mandolin
With…
Britton Beisenherz – Electric Bass, Rhodes, Piano, Percussion
Steve Bernal - Cello
Kyle Clayton - Upright Bass
Katy Rose Cox - Fiddle
Todd Pertll - Pedal Steel
Roberto Sanchez – Drums, Percussion
The Ramble Creek Choir - Kyle Clayton, Mandy Rowden, Margo Valiante, and Tanya Winch
Recorded at Ramble Creek Studio, Austin, TX
Engineered and Mixed by Britton Beisenherz
Mastered by Jim Wilson at Airshow Mastering, Boulder, CO
Artwork by Geron Hoy
Photography by Aaron Davis
Casting an artful sound with lyrical purpose that nods to Roots-Rock, Soulful Americana and vintage Country-Blues, Screen
Door Porch brings to mind “Stevie Nicks meets The Band, with Ryan Adams and Bonnie Raitt hanging out backstage.” It's grooving, electrified Porch music adorned with the soulful pipes of Rose, propped-up by Davis's gritty slide guitar, quirky banjo pickin'....more
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