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10/27/2015

Moody Little Sister's - 'Ocean Rock & Sand' from 'Wild Places'

Wild Places, led them to question who they were as people, what they were doing artistically, and how they were going about booking shows and setting up tours, having traditionally played over 100 shows a year since their inception three years ago.

We are told:

Portland, Oregon-based folk-soul duo - Naomi Hooley and Rob Stroup - are celebrating the release of their debut full-length, Wild Places,

On Wild Places, Moody Little Sister creates a soundtrack for anyone on a journey to be more authentically themselves, a journey the duo took themselves before arriving at the finished album.

Originally starting a record that was eventually scrapped - and spending more than a year on that record - a violent crowd at a small town bar abruptly ended one of their performances, forcing the duo to walk out, and reconsider the path that they - and most bands - traditionally follow. This also led them to rethink the record they had been working on.

This soul-searching journey, documented on Wild Places, led them to question who they were as people, what they were doing artistically, and how they were going about booking shows and setting up tours, having traditionally played over 100 shows a year since their inception three years ago.

Scrapping everything and rebuilding from scratch, they decided they wanted to go in a more organic musical direction, and wanted their fans to experience the music more organically as well. This led them to redefine the band and music; the duo began crafting a new record with honesty and intention, while also brainstorming nontraditional and fresh ways of performing the music to their fan base.

Ditching the smokey bars and late-night alcohol sales guised as concerts, they began playing backyards, living rooms, or large parcels of land with space for camping, developing the term "camping concerts," and transforming concertgoers into "tribe members," where listeners became participants, bringing their tents and families to hang out with the band, each other, and nature, essentially helping the band come up with the title for their debut, Wild Places.

The themes of community, nature, and the inward - and outward - journey Moody Little Sister traveled are predominant in Wild Places, allowing the band to create a soundtrack for anyone on a similar journey. And, just as this allowed Moody Little Sister to become more authentically themselves, the duo hopes that listening to Wild Places will help the listener become more authentically themselves as well.

Entering the studio with producer Pete Droge - and executive producer Elaine Summers - the duo recruited an exquisite team of musicians to help flesh out the songs and bring them to life, including Jay Bellerose on drums (Plant/Krauss, Joe Henry, T-Bone Burnett), Jennifer Condos on bass (Ray LaMontagne, Don Henley), and Portland's own Bob Dunham on lead guitar (Drunken Prayer, Resolectrics). The result is a record that is as pure and vibrant as their live performances, and the soothing environments in which they now choose to perform said songs.

Described by Droge as "lightning in a bottle," the basic tracking took place in L.A., with Hooley singing with grit and emotion, capturing most her lead vocals in the moment, and Stroup adding subtly and grace to each number along the way. The band's raw vitality and creativity helped further the songs even more, resulting in a record that the band describes as, "humanness, realness, and even error, left on the record."

Comments

anonymous

YAY! Love this band!

Wed, October 28 2015 - 04:38 pm

Brenda

Love, Love, Love!

Wed, October 28 2015 - 08:28 pm

Jean-Pierre Garau

Dang, I love these two and am intrigued and enticed to delve into this music. :-)

Fri, October 30 2015 - 12:10 am

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