Horse Feathers

Okay, so maybe this post is a little late. Twelve years late, that is. But when it comes to music, I’m just a little slow on the draw sometimes.

There was a time when I used to be obsessive about my music consumption, voracious. That if I liked one song, I would have to listen to the entire album it spawned from, and then perhaps the artist’s entire discography if the album was worth a listen. Those days are no more. As the parent of a two year old, I listen to more nursery rhymes than I’m proud of (although 101 Golden Nursery Rhymes and Songs is undeniably an amazing record). And I just don’t have the time (or emotional energy) to devote to such devoted musical exploration.

Now I can love one song from a band and literally not even know the name of the album that it comes from.

My relationship with Horse Feathers was exactly like that, tentatively non-existent. I had played In Our Blood on repeat one snowy spring day as the perfectly poignant song for the moment, and I am overly familiar with the Horse Feathers’ cover of the Nirvana song Drain You (which is amazing btw!). When I was living in Charlottesville a friend invited me to see them live, but a work responsibility conflicted with the show.

And that is so unfortunate, because had I gone to that concert in 2015, I would have had three more years to love the band. Horse Feathers is an indie/rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band started with a vocalist, Justin Ringle, and a multi-faceted musician with a knack for the violin, Peter Broderick. They eventually expanded to include a larger string section, and thank goodness, because that heart wrenching sound of strings became their signature sound.

Start with Words Are Dead, their first album. An incredibly tender and gorgeous album, rife with sweet strings and gut wrenchingly beautiful lyrics. And then move on to devour the rest of their discography, you won’t regret it.

image via wikimedia commons