Dust Sleeve

This week Portland-based Horse Feathers released their third full-length, Thistled Spring, a gorgeous folk-inspired piece blooming with our current season. In preparation for their upcoming show here in Cleveland on April 26th, Dust Sleeve sat down with Justin Ringle, the groups songwriter, to discuss the new album.

What does Thistled Spring mean to you and how does it compare to your first two albums?

Just Ringle: This record for me began pretty unassumingly with no immediate theme or concept. I had finished touring for 2 months after House With No Home came out and when I returned to Portland I moved to a different part of town where I started to write this material the bulk of which uncoincidentally came together last spring. It was only after putting two and two together and reflecting on the new music that I kind of realized that it was coming from a new place; a new home, a new mood, a different season and essentially a new life.

When working off a seasonal theme, where do you pull your inspiration?

JR: Honestly I think my neighborhood inspired me the most. Portland does a number with springtime that I somehow never noticed before until last year. Secondly I developed quite an affinity for the poet James Wright. I was given a book of his by a blogger in Columbus Ohio and it seriously changed my perception as to how beautiful words can be.

The Kill Rock Stars site compares the album to a “thawing of frozen hearts, and music, which rushes like spring torrents, all of which points to a resurgence of life after a hard winter” – a natural progression from the darker winter imagery of House With No Home. Was the Spring theme pre-meditated when you began writing this album, or did it happen organically?

JR: Organically. It was only after that I noticed that many of the songs I had written seemed to be living in this weird mood that seemed really foreign to me. It later dawned on me that it was indicative of the spring season. The state of flux, hopefully sunny afternoons, the contrast of freshly bloomed flowers with frost on their edges in the morning. Those type of things.

I’m interested to know more about the meaning behind your title. There’s an interesting tension at play in the wording there by referring to the bright, lush, rejuvenating Spring as ‘Thistled’. Noting the quote in the last question, I wonder if the “hard winter” has bloomed into yet another hard, prickly season?

JR: That’s the interesting thing to me about spring is that you are not out of the woods yet so to speak in terms of weather, or disposition. Spring is tempting in that you can have a beautiful day followed by a week of rain. It’s trying and simultaneously it illicits a forward looking hope. We all often times want it to be over so we can enjoy the summer you know? I think the title brings out that element of there being an underlying pain or discomfort that colors that pent up hope we have that summer should have started yesterday.

How big of a role, if any, did your touring members Catherine, Nathan, and Sam have in the writing and recording process of this album? Do you write your own string arrangements, or bring the others in to fill in the skelleton of the songs?

JR: It’s a process that is always changing often from song to song. But generally I work with the accompanists and arrange their pieces into the vision of the song that I have. Sometimes thats singing a part to them and sometimes that’s just changing the articulation of a piece of a line that say nate just came up with. There is both an element of collaboration and of me ultimately trying to shape it all into what I want. I’m lucky though because Nate, Sam, and Catherine are all immensely talented at their instruments which helps a lot!

Are there any instruments you haven’t included in past Horse Feathers arrangements that you think would make it onto the next record?

JR: Maybe a dobro someday, horns. It’s hard to say at this point I’ve just started to think about that stuff!

Over the past few years there has been an insurgence of folk musicians out there. What do you think it is that is drawing artists to the folk sound, or what is it that draws you?

JR: I don’t know. When I started Horse Feathers in 2004 folk wasnt quite as novel it seems to be now. I got into singer songwriters and acoustic based music after playing rock for a longtime because of it’s ability to be more intimate and communicate things differently. I also love bluegrass and string band intrumentation.

There seems to be something about Portland that encourages nature-themed folk music. Seriously, what’s in the water out there? Or, in other words, tell us stuck on the other side of the US what it is you love about where you live and how it inspires you musically.

JR: Well if you ever came out to visit you could see that Portland is a city practically living in a forest. So in that sense it’s a very accessible form of inspiration. I love the northwest and overall say it’s been a huge inspiration to me both my home state of Idaho and Oregon.

Other than your own, what’s been your favorite album release of 2010?

JR: Joe Pugs The Messenger. I have also been pretty into this Aaron Copeland collection I just got off of iTunes.

What can fans expect from a live Horse Feathers show?

JR: Equal parts of all three records and maybe a little more dynamics these days. Sometimes a cover or two.

Again, Clevelanders can check out Horse Feathers this Monday, April 26th at the Beachland Tavern. Hometown favorites Cloud Nothings and Brian Straw will open. Doors at 8 pm, $8 for advance tickets or $10 at the door. We’ll see you there!