Customer Reviews

Sera Cahoone

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like Cat Power, Beth Orton or Neko Case you'll love this album. Its honest country flavored indie folk. Here's the official description:

Sera Cahoone is a twenty-nine year-old singer songwriter based in Seattle, by way of Colorado. Armed with her favorite Martin guitar, Seras music reflects her love of both old country-western and modern lo-fi. Her unique sound bridges the gap between the two genres, like a musical love child of Buck Owens and Cat Power. The Strangers music editor, Jennifer Maerz, states Cahoone has a truly gorgeous voice, a dusty country style delivery...(her) music gives me the chills...slow, warm, simply beautiful.

Sera has spent the past year working on her first full-length album. It was recently completed with help from musician friends: Jay Kardong, Jeff Fielder, Eric Himes, and Sarah Standard and Mat Brooke from Carissas Weird. The ten songs on her album feature a wide array of sounds including pedal steel, banjo, dobro, violin, and harmonica. Her album tells the quiet story of simple truthsheartbreak, longing, and self-discovery.

Sera began writing songs on the guitar in high school, but actually got her musical start at the age of eleven, when her mother finally gave in to her daughters prodding and bought Sera her first drum set. To the tune of her familys exasperation, she taught herself the drums by playing along to the radio in her bedroom. By thirteen, Seras mother was driving her to Rocky Mountain-town bars to play open blues jams with musicians thirty years her senior.

In recent years, Sera was the drummer for indie favorites Carissas Wierd, touring with Iron and Wine and The Long Winters. She has also played with Panda and Angel, Lisa Orth, and L.A. musician Patrick Park, completing two U.S. tours with Patrick in support of Liz Phair, Rachel Yamagata, and The Thrills. Sera also played drums on the upcoming release from Sub Pops Band Of Horses.

Seras experience as a drummer has heavily-influenced her song-writing. She has a sharp sense of rhythm and tempo, and has been described as a particularly percussive guitar-player, producing songs that are rich and memorable. Named by The Seattle Times as one of the Northwests top ten new artists of 2005, Tom Scanlon writes Upon hearing her sing, its clear she belongs in front of a microphone, no matter how good a drummer she is.

For now, Sera has set her drum sticks aside as she is quite busy, playing top venues with her band in the Seattle area. She was also a recently-featured guest on KEXPs John Richards popular morning show and she has some great shows scheduled for the near future. Her self-titled album is now in stores.

I don't profess to be a well-rounded music lover but this is one of the most unique I have ever heard. I am not a country music fan by a long shot but filtered through this Indie-Pop Whatchacallit, and Sera's crooning, I'm just woo'ed in. I love every track except the first few seconds of track 6. It reminds me too much of Hee Haw! I listen to this album over and over. It's especially good to listen to when you are in that quiet-introspective-mellow-relaxed-tea-sippin mood.

This is a refreshing compilation of solid American music untainted by the corporate music factory. From first track to last, you won't be disappointed. Sera's singing is eerily beautiful, while the instrumentation (especially the pedal steel) sooths your soul. "Couch Song" and "Last Time" are the highlights. I suspect we'll be hearing more from Ms. Cahoone in the future.

This young artist is the real thing....straight from the heart, to the heart...look forward to what she does next.

Listening to Sera Cahoone's debut is like watching an unknown independent movie that makes up for what it lacks in star power and special effects with a touching story and wonderful characters. Cahoone wanders a similar musical landscape as Kathleen Edwards and Allison Moorer. Though her songs depict a less graphic world, it's still a painful and lonely one. However, despite all this, there a thread of hope woven throughtout the tapestry of her songs. "Couch Song", the album's best track, is an absolute gem. Consider it a primer for an impressive album with nary a weak song. Though this one may have slid under your radar, it's one of the better surprises from 2006.

This album is perfect for fans of alt-folk music, such as Neko Case, Iron & Wine, and Band of Horses. In fact, Sera played drums on the Band of Horses album "Everything All the Time"; Sera was once a member of Carissa's Wierd along with two of the founders of Band of Horses. After getting into Carissa's Wierd, I tracked down all the offshoots I could find, leading me to this album.

It doesn't have the chamber-pop sound of Carissa's Wierd or Fleet Foxes, but instead has a mellow folk sound with a definite country element, but not nearly enough to categorize it as such. There's an occasional banjo-type sound in some songs which adds to the sound without overwhelming it or becoming the center of attention. I find this alternative-meets-folk-meets-country sound perfect to relax me. Some songs especially, such as "Take Me Home" and "Long Highway", have an ethereal quality which can be very soothing. Sera has a gorgeous voice to go with the gentle guitar work and acoustic accompaniment. This is the type of music you can chill out and lose yourself in.

A simply wonderful album. Great music, great vocals, great feeling. If you're a fan of folk, you MUST add this album to your collection!

Cahoone's soothing voice is a comforting tonic in today's hectic world.