Eric Skelton
Posted inMusic

Riding The Wave with Citizen Cope

Inside the mind of a genre-crossing singer-songwriter
Eric Skelton

Citizen Cope’s head-nodding blend of acoustic soul, hip-hop, and folk music has taken the singer-songwriter around the world over the last 15 years and earned him both critical and commercial success—but you wouldn’t know it by talking to him. Born Clarence Greenwood, the Washington D.C. native radiates a humble sensibility that complements the low-key charm […]

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Dancing In A Crowded Room

Dance Yourself Clean takes its successful indie pop dance party on the road
Eric Skelton

“It’s a really simple concept,” explains Joel Albers, the mastermind behind a series of weekly dance parties called Dance Yourself Clean. “We turn the lights out, turn the fog up to 11, and let the music speak for itself. It’s a no-frills dance party.” Albers and his fellow DJs didn’t need to be fancy when […]

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Punching Through The Screen

Making acoustic bluegrass music in a digital age with the Punch Brothers
Eric Skelton

Gone are the days of dark concert halls dimly lit by the occasional sparks of lighters and flashbulbs. Things have changed. When musicians gaze out at crowds in 2015, they’re greeted by seas of glowing faces illuminated by LED screens. As New York bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers returned from a year and a half on […]

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Michael Franti Rises Up, Again

Drawing inspiration and positivity from a family crisis
Eric Skelton

For over 20 years, Michael Franti & Spearhead have used an infectious blend of reggae, hip-hop, and rock as a platform for spreading uplifting messages of community and social justice. Of course, it’s easy to radiate positivity and maintain an optimistic worldview when you’re a wildly successful international rock star. But Franti’s resilience to adversity […]

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Drive-Thru Metal

A band of fast food rockers from Los Angeles turn heads with a wild stage show
Eric Skelton

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a McDonald’s-themed Black Sabbath cover band from Los Angeles fronted by a health-conscious, heavy metal clown named Ronald Osbourne. Seriously. The whole thing sounds like the imaginative daydream of an angsty teenager in the back of a high school health class, but fortunately for us, not only does it […]

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Effects Pedal Junkies Find Their Voice

Local ambient rock group Isles puts the final touches on an ambitious debut album
Eric Skelton

In August 2013, Bend rock quartet Isles turned heads with an impressive first splash as they introduced themselves with Viracocha—35 minutes of beautifully-sculpted instrumental ambient rock. Largely inspired by a series of improvised jam sessions, the songs are built on meandering song structures that give the EP an innately organic feel. Washed in layers of […]

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The Lighter Side of The Thermals

Hutch Harris finds new light for The Thermals through stand-up comedy and children’s television
Eric Skelton

Hutch Harris was scared. The charismatic frontman of Portland’s post-punk power trio The Thermals had been thinking about trying his hand at stand-up comedy for years, but kept talking himself out of it before ever actually making it up on stage. Thoroughly comfortable thrashing around on stage every night directing the high-intensity rock shows that […]

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Decemberists, Just “Normal” Oregonians

Heck, Colin even watches the Trailblazers now!
Eric Skelton

In February 2011, The Decemberists’ sixth studio album The King Is Dead debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, crowning a familiar list of pop darlings including Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. It was a rare moment that saw a band that’s never been afraid to be themselves (no matter how theatrical or […]

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Not So Lonely in San Angelo

Los Lonely Boys find community in music
Eric Skelton

When the shimmering guitar riffs and instantly catchy melodies of the Los Lonely Boys‘ hit single “Heaven” chased the song up the Billboard Top 40 charts in 2004, a literal world of possibilities opened up to the trio of brothers from San Angelo, Texas. With the major label backing of Epic Records, the obvious choice […]

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A Voice Reborn

Portland’s Fernando Viciconte returns with a psychedelic new sound
Eric Skelton

There’s something special about Fernando Viciconte’s voice. Whether delivering words of longing and heartbreak over sorrowful strums of an acoustic guitar, or painting dreamlike narratives over meaty psychedelic guitars, there’s a raw quality about his voice that cuts through style and cultural context to connect on an unmistakably human level. As he alternates between English […]

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