Graham Reid | | <1 min read
Elsewhere almost missed the delightful 2020 album Summerlong by this band which is a vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips) until we heard a glorious track of a compilation.
Then we jumped on it for its lazy country stylings of steel guitar, bluegrass and Byrdsian jangle (think Wasn't Born to Follow and Ballad of Easy Rider).
But dammit we missed their follow-up Earth Trip the following year, despite wanting to keep them on our sonic sonar.
We promised we wouldn't let it happen again and so here we are with another entrancing album which lives up to the mood suggested on the cover, where rhythms and melodies slip into low gear with songs titled Chasing Rainbows, Porch Boogie, Mariposa (those last two around the seven minute mark for sustained pleasure) and Moonlight Highway.
This is where Jerry Garcia crosses paths with Roger McGuinn and the low-key dueling guitars (Johnson and Barry Walker) dispense with Jim Morrison and just lock into a jazz groove that the other Doors could be laying down.
The Rose City Band are why we have sound systems in cars, they make the sound of a breeze across the warm asphalt and evoke the ease of a long highway which leads to a holiday destination or just somewhere away from where you don't want to be.
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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here
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