Each year at this time, I get to go back and spend a good part of my summer in the state of my birth, Oregon, and the city I first fell in love with, Portland. And since Portland is the unofficial sister city of our beloved Austin, we at OVRLD thought it would be cool if I wrote some posts documenting the similarities between these two amazing cities – with a special focus on music, of course.
For those unfamiliar with the greatest city in the Pacific Northwest, there are a number of non-musical parallels between the City of Roses and the Music Capital of the World. While Austin boasts a wide array of food trucks, Portland is the home to a huge selection of food carts that are situated in clusters known as “pods” all across the city. Downtown Austin West of Congress is very similar to Portland’s Pearl District, and while Austin has the great Waterloo Records, Portland has staples like Music Millennium and Jackpot records peppered throughout its many neighborhoods. Finally, some of the most popular live music venues in PDX include the Doug Fir Lounge (My personal favorite. Its innards look like a log cabin…YES.), the Aladdin Theater and the Crystal Ballroom.
I’ll divulge more about my city of origin as the series progresses, but I’ll leave you with an introduction to an up-and-coming Portland band that I just learned about and that exemplifies the great sound currently emanating from my little corner of the PNW. The We Shared Milk, made up of Eric Ambrosius and Portugal. The Man soundman Boone Howard, juts released an EP of concise rock songs called Jesuses that, while short, has definite sonic staying power. You can download the entire EP, for free!, at the band’s website, but first have a listen to the unforgettably bouncy “Drag” below.
– Brittany