Artist: Blitzen Trapper

Hails from: Portland, OR

Musical Style: Indie Rock, Alternative Country, Classic Rock

For Fans of: Pavement, Neil Young, Wilco

Why you should check them out:

Garnering extensive critical acclaim for their 2007 release Wild Mountain Nation, this Portland based sextet has established themselves as one of the most eclectic and hard working indie/alt-country outfits to emerge onto Sub Pop’s current roster.

Background check:

Listen to just a few tracks from Blitzen Trapper’s Wild Mountain Nation, and you might just find yourself questioning whether you accidentally hit random on your itunes. Sure the vocals are seemingly familiar through each track, but with mellow acoustic songs leading into heavy guitar solo freak outs, you might wonder how songwriter Eric Earley, a man who admittedly does not buy records, could attain such eclecticism.

Normally, I would take this time to list a few similar bands to give you an idea of what to expect, but with Blitzen Trapper that list would require far more commas then I’m willing to commit to. Let’s just say, southern rock mixed with banjo laden delta blues, and a little bit of lo-fi Pavment-esque distortion to top it off. And I’m pretty sure that still doesn’t cover it.

Since forming in 2000, the Portland sextet have fully embraced the D.I.Y. ethic, self releasing all three of their albums before signing to Sub Pop in 2007. For a band who has continually worked so hard to get to where they are, 2008 finds Blitzen Trapper in high standings. Gaining critical acclaim with Wild Mountain Nation, and finding themselves on their first headlining tour, Blitzen Trapper’s fourth release, Furr (scheduled for later this year) is an album definitely worth watching for.

Where you can find them in cyberspace:
www.myspace.com/blitzentrapper
www.subpop.com/bio/blitzen_trapper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitzen_Trapper

Where you can find them on tour:
http://www.jambase.com