Every once in awhile a band comes along that makes the world seem a little more fragrant. A band that makes you believe in love, propels you to pick up your guitar, reminds you that it feels good to sing aloud. A band that breezes through you on a lazy hammock-and-lemonade day or cozies you on a rainy couch-and-slanket day. Blind Pilot is this band. From the moment their first album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, hit your ears, you know it is something special. Every single song on this album is memorable and important, with loaded lyrics and gliding melodies. Reminiscent of The Shins and Iron and Wine with a little more punch and momentum, Blind Pilot is Portland based Israel Nebeker (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums) at the helm. Since the release of their album, they've added six talented musicians to help fill out their live sound, including Kati Claborn (banjo, backing vocals), Luke Ydstie (upright bass, backing vocals), Kristine Rabii (violin), Joel Meredith (pedal steel), Ian Krist (Vibes) and Dave Jorgensen (keyboards/trumpet). Nebeker pens the lyrics while Dobrowski helps develop the sound with the "mundanely simple goal....to make music that is honest and personal, and that moves people that listen to it." Check and check. For a first listen, download "The Story I Heard" and "Oviedo".
Last summer, Nebeker and Dobrowski came up with the eccentric idea to tour their first album by bicycle, instruments literally trailing behind them. Partly because they wanted to see if they could actually pull it off, partly because it was to them "a perfect antidote to both the dreary winter of Portland and also to the routine and established path for music and bands to take." And so off they went, promoting their album and stopping along the coast to play for small crowds at cafes and bike shops. They played for the love of the music they'd written, they biked to help save our planet, and along the way they started amassing major followers. A plug on KCRW, a single on a Starbucks compilation and a performance on Last Call with Carson Daly and they are ready to play ball. Blind Pilot is touring up until SXSW in Austin where they will finally get to show their unparalleled talent to a mass audience. Their thoughts on taking the big stage? "If it's even half the music craziness that people say it is, we're going to be in heaven."
