Western State Hurricanes debut LP announced
When I started the label, I made a list of five records I was hoping to see on vinyl (and, fingers crossed bands reunited) Now the list has grown since then but, today marks the announcement of the fifth of those original ideas and I’m so excited to announce the pre-order campaign for the Western State Hurricanes
I can’t count how many times I played that original demo tape of theirs. And how great I always felt those songs were. And are. Some of them have made the transition into Long Winters tunes but, there’s an angularity and punch to the WSH versions that drive those songs in a completely different way.
In my early days of trying to find my way into the Seattle music scene, I recall helping set up a weekend of shows with the Nevada Bachelors, Western State Hurricanes, and Death Cab for Cutieat the OK Hotel and then the following night we repeated the bill, made it all ages and added Jen Wood. That one was at a place that at the time was called the Beatbox (that previous to that I think was an old strip club. I seem to remember a dancer’s pole in the middle of the stage at this show) on Capitol Hill. It was an epic weekend and a testament to just how great the bands in this area could be.
The Western State Hurricanes were one of those bands that always had a sort of mythical aura around them. Helping to refocus the Seattle music scene beyond the ideas of what drove people to pay attention to the Northwest in the 90s to begin with. They had a flirtation with Sub Pop Records, a rivalry with The Stranger‘s music editor Everett True, and during the brief time they were active, they captivated anyone and everyone who came across their path.
Bo Gilliland, Stephanie Emery, Michael Shilling, and especially John Roderick, have already put in a great deal of effort in bringing these songs back to life and I can’t wait for what comes next. The album will consist of 10 songs, on colored vinyl, and the band has agreed to a couple of reunion shows in February of 2020 to help support release.
We’ve put together a great campaign with some excellent reward/perk options for you, should you be so interested.
Thank you so much for reading this far and (if you’d be so kind) helping spread the word.