Blind Pilot
Oregon
Portland, Oregon-based Blind Pilot’s 2008 recording debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound, captured folks’ attentions, introducing us to an important new songwriter in singer Israel Nebeker and a fresh approach to thoughtful, literate indie-folk. Nebeker and duo-mate Ryan Dobrowski embarked on a bicycle tour of the West Coast, instruments and all.
They expanded to a sextet, did a second West Coast tour on bikes, and picked up steam with the release of We Are The Tide in 2011. Accolades, charting, Letterman and Ellen, Newport Folk, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza followed.
But it was to be five years before their next recording, when And Then Like Lions was released in August 2016 to critical acclaim. Grief in many forms had intervened for Nebeker, including the loss of his father to cancer. He says, “Avoiding suffering is avoiding real happiness too. My reason to tell this story isn’t because it broke me and pinned me breathless…This album came from love for my family, my town, my friends, my community.” Expect to hear moving, powerful and personal songs about loss, but about renewal as well.