Horse Feathers
House With No Home
Kill Rock Stars
Born and raised in Lewiston, ID, Justin Ringle has a natural affinity with the West. Its space, beauty, and non-conformity seem to be reflected in the music of his band, Horse Feathers, named after an expression he heard his grandfather use. In Ringle’s hands, the common meaning of this expression comes to life: two things that can’t possibly exist together are spun into a gossamer delicacy of music shot through with lyrical weight.
Justin grew up on Northwest labels like Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars and K Records, but soon broadened his horizons. Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen, Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson and old country and blues like Lefty Frizzell and Son House have all contributed to shaping Horse Feathers’ arrestingly spare sound.
Moving from Idaho to Portland, Orgeon, in 2004, Justin recorded some demos, one of which found its way to Peter Broderick, a talented multi-instrumentalist. Later Peter’s sister Heather Broderick joined the band on cello and backing vocals. Justin and Peter worked together to polish the material that became the band’s debut album, Words Are Dead, which was released on the local Lucky Madison label in 2006, and was nominated for the Plug Awards ‘Americana Album of the Year’.
On this, their second album, Horse Feathers have distilled their sound into a brilliant statement of minimalist Americana. Peter and Heather’s precisely arranged strings step cautiously in and around Justin’s haunting vocal lines, and the economy of music is also reflected in the lyrics – a few evocative phrases tell rich stories, each word weighted and delivered with careful purpose.
House With No Home is an album infused with rare power and emotion, restrained but always present, where the gaps between the notes are as important as the note themselves.