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De muziek van Rose City Band is een warme, tijdloze mix van country en rock. Frontman Ripley Johnson put inspiratie uit obscure platen uit de jaren ’70 en creëert samen met zijn band een meeslepend geluid waarin ritme en melodie samen komen in dromerige, sfeervolle lagen.
Op het nieuwste Rose City Band album Sol Y Sombra laat de band een rits aan aanstekelijke nummers met onweerstaanbare grooves horen die je het beste kan luisteren bij zonsondergang, tijdens een rit door de open woestijn. Het album is een ode aan de vrijheid van reizen en tegelijk een stille zoektocht naar de geborgenheid van thuis. Rose City Band Biography by Fred Thomas Psychedelic country jam band Rose City Band is the project of Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo guitarist/vocalist Ripley Johnson. He worked with indie giant Thrill Jockey to reissue the band's 2019 self-titled debut after a self-released pressing quickly sold out. From there, Johnson's unassuming recording project grew into a prolific and evolving band, touring and frequently releasing increasingly rich-sounding albums like 2021's naturalistic Earth Trip and 2023's summery and live-sounding Garden Party. The band's fifth album, Sol y Sombra, arrived in 2025 and further refined their cosmic country sound. Referencing Johnson's home of Portland, Oregon, Rose City Band first appeared in May 2019 when their self-titled album was released with very little background information surrounding it on the boutique label Jean Sandwich Records. The seven-song set was a mellow mix of hazy, textural space rock and Grateful Dead-indebted cosmic country, and the 1,000-copy pressing sold out quickly despite the lack of information available about the group. When Thrill Jockey picked it up for reissue early the next year, Ripley Johnson gave an interview where he revealed that he hadn't just produced the album, but sang and played most of the instruments, filling out the sound with help from a rotating cast of friends. Thrill Jockey reissued the album and plans were made for a follow-up to be released sometime in the spring or summer of 2020. A second album, Summerlong, surfaced in May 2020, and had even more of a country accent than the debut. Still exploring the midway between psychedelia and country-folk, Johnson filled out his spare instrumentals with pedal steel, jaw harp, and mandolin. For his third album, Earth Trip, he worked with pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker as well as producer Cooper Crain, who mixed Johnson's home-recorded material. The album was released in May 2021, and its content focused on themes of natural beauty and finding hope and solace in nature. At this point Rose City Band was no longer just a studio project -- a live iteration of the band had begun playing shows and touring internationally. The live lineup included Johnson and Walker, as well as keyboardist Paul Hasenberg, bassist Dewey Mahood, and drummer Dustin Dybvig. Though Johnson's fourth album, Garden Party, was mostly tracked solo, Johnson tapped into the same energy Rose City Band found on-stage for its songs about summertime and the great outdoors. The album included guest appearances from Moon Duo bandmates John Jeffrey on drums and Sanae Yamada on synths, along with contributions from members of the touring band. Garden Party was recorded with John McEntire and released on Thrill Jockey in April of 2023. Sol y Sombra arrived in January of 2025. The album continued the evolution of the Rose City Band sound, with even more intricate arrangements focusing on masterful pedal steel playing and tight vocal harmonies amid the usual spaced-out Americana sounds. |