Horse Feathers
HF at MySpace
After fronting several rock bands in his native Idaho, singer/songwriter Justin Ringle moved to Portland, OR in 2004 and began focusing on acoustic music, playing open mics regularly under the moniker Horse Feathers. In 2005, multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick heard a couple of Justin's demos and offered to help flesh them out. In February 2006 the duo went into Skyler Norwood's Miracle Lake studios and recorded their debut album, 'Words are Dead,' which was released that September on Portland label, Lucky Madison. Later that year, Peter's sister Heather Broderick joined the group on cello and by 2007, Horse Feathers began featuring a rotating cast of instrumentalists backing Justin's guitar and vocals.

The Mountains & The Trees

MYSPACE

The Mountains & The Trees are/is Jon Janes. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, bells, drums, and sings. Local yokel rising crust folk singer, whatever that means. Described as a "hootenanny" by mother - tends to get a bit loopy. You decide!

Leif Vollebekk

Leif on Myspace His name and blood may be Scandinavian, but Leif is a born and raised Canadian. His debut album, Inland, was recorded in Montreal's Breakglass Studios (Wolf Parade, Patrick Watson, Stars, Unicorns).

"Leif Vollebekk is a Canadian singer-songwriter with an enchanting voice. On his new album, Inland, he sings gently plucked, sparely arranged ballads in both French and English. There's no shortage of singer-songwriters in the world, but I found Inland to be a particularly beautiful, memorable and moving collection of songs. Vollebekk has a great sense for melody and arranging -- he knows when to give a song space to breathe -- and he's a gifted multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar and piano, harmonica and violin." -Robin Hilton, NPR