(D)early Departed: True Lies In Song Unearthed From Lone Fir
I received this CD back in October from Powell’s as part of my Indiespensable subscription and unfortunately I set it aside and promptly forgot about for a month or so. When I finally got around to listening to it, I fell in love with it and it has been in heavy rotation at my house ever since. A collection of 15 songs by various Portland artists recorded as part of a fund raising project for the historic Lone Fir Cemetery, each song is inspired by the true story of one of the “residents” of Lone Fir. The songs range from hauntingly beautiful to sweetly melodic, with everything else in between – there truly isn’t a bad track on the entire CD. Listening to the CD reminds me of what a vibrant and exquisitely talented musical community exists in the Pacific Northwest. My roots are in Seattle and I used to take the musical scene there for granted, naively assuming that each major city must have a similar community. While there are certainly talented musicians here in Phoenix, I miss the richness and diversity of the Seattle scene. At least now I can listen to this compilation and appreciate the wealth of talent that exists in Portland…and plan my next trip to the Pacific Northwest.
