Cascade Crescendo, Chasing the Sun Review
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Cascade Crescendo is a high-energy bluegrass, jamgrass and Americana band hailing from Portland, Oregon. The band is comprised of: Hunter White (guitar, vocals), Taylor Skiles (upright bass) and Aden Beck (mandolin, vocals). Duluth, and Harrison Olk (banjo, vocals). Cascade Cresendo’s debut album, Caught in the Rain, was released in 2016. The group has toured throughout the United States performing at multiple festivals including: Boats & Bluegrass in Minnesota, YarmonyGrass in Colorado, Silver Cloud Campout in Montana and Northwest String Summit in Oregon. Cascade Crescendo’s touring has expanding their fanbase well beyond their Pacific Northwest homebase. They are releasing their second album, Chasing the Sun, featuring fifteen original tunes and returning guest performances from Allie Kral (fiddle, Yonder Mountain String Band) and Nick Werth (drummer, Yak Attack). Cascade Crescendo will tour throughout 2019 in support of their new album with major festival appearances including Bender Jamboree and Blue Ox Music Festival. Singles “Spun Like a Record” (released January 18, 2019) and “Every Little Thing” (featuring Anders Beck from Greensky Bluegrass on dobro) will be released on February 1, 2019. “Sailboat,” the lead single from Chasing the Sun, was released in July 2018. Chasing the Sun continues the band’s sound of excellent musicianship, solid vocals and vocal harmonies and well-crated tunes. The second single is being
Positives:
The quartet has a wide range of collective influences, the result is a collection of songs that span a wide range of feels, styles and sounds.
Bottom Line:
Cascade Crescendo continues to build their catalog of outstanding songwriting with catchy melodies, offering unique and timeless lyrical content. The band stretches further into the instrumental zone and often improvisational jams reminiscent of their live shows. The result is an exciting album that has the energy and drive that makes bluegrass great. The lead singing is spot-on and the vocal harmonies buzz with resonance. Each solo is melodic and builds. The guest artists also add to the project. Allie Kral brings her wonderful fiddle skill to four tracks, the virtuosic Anders Beck can be heard on the dobro during two tracks, and Nick Werth plays drums on two tracks. Now the moment bluegrass fans read the words “drums,” they usually get nervous, but don’t worry Chasing the Sun has plenty of traditional sounds at its core. The tunes are all rooted in the foundation of bluegrass music, which certainly has a beautiful long history of sounds. However, the elements are also incorporated from: funk, jam, folk, Americana and rock music. Chasing the Sun displays Cascade Crescendo continued growth and band chemistry with a set of excellent tunes that are fresh, virtuosic and buzzing with grass, while still giving a musical treat for a wide musical audience. That’s the short of it!