In his newest release ,folk troubadour John Craigie pauses from the lone life of a musician on the road to lay musical roots amid the rain soaked winters and springtime roses of his adopted home of Portland Oregon. “No Rain No Rose” has the informal, communal feel of a living room show – in fact the album was recorded in the living room of Craigie’s Portland home, with local musicians, including The Shook Twins and Jay Cobb Anderson dropping by to collaborate. The quiet spaces between tracks are punctuated with banter, guitar strums, even a dog barking in the background. The mood of the album shifts from bluegrassy toe tappers like “Michael Collins” to a stripped down campfire version of The Rolling Stones “Tumbling Dice”. Gregory Alan Isakov joins Craigie in the album’s highlight track “I Am California”, a poignant ode to a mythic landscape and the longing for a home left behind. The hushed vocal style and wistful harmonica embody beautifully the dream and disillusion of the Golden State and its restless allure. While the tone of No Rain No Rose is relaxed and spontaneous, the album has the polish of an artist who has thoroughly practiced his craft and mined his emotional world to create music that invites you to come on over, commiserate ,laugh and share with friends over the collective sorrows and joys of living life. – Written by SLynch
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