Blind Pilot

Too much of anything is bad right? Well there is an exception and that is in the case of good music, after 3 relentless days of great folk music at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons Colorado I was ready for a break but alas, there would be no rest for the weary. We arrived late this Sunday morning from the previous nights very late show, just in time for Blind Pilot’s set, originally a Portland-based duo comprised of singer/guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, Blind Pilot strike a balance between mellow folk and West Coast indie pop.

Blind Pilot

The two friends first banded together in college before combining their musical talents and touring the northwestern Oregon circuit. By 2006, however, they’d decided that a change of scenery might help fuel their songwriting. Blind Pilot consequently relocated 90 miles north, where they spent three months inside an Astoria warehouse while recording demos for a full-length album. The sonic pleasure derived from this set can not be over stated, the silky smooth sounds created by this band are so catchy and contagious it should be called into the WHO, the hell with swine flu! They remind me a bit of Toad The Wet Sprocket for some reason, check them out any chance you can and until then go buy their CD 3 Rounds and a Sound.

Blind Pilot is an American indie pop band based in Portland, Oregon. The group’s single, “Go On, Say It”, was chosen to be a Single of the Week on July 7, 2008 on Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store, potentially yielding approximately 2 million downloads.^[1] As of July 22, 2008, their debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, has reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart.

The band completed a bicycle tour in 2008, biking from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California, carrying their instruments on custom bicycle trailers they fashioned themselves. They made more than two dozen stops along the way, including Port Townsend, Seattle, Olympia, Portland, Corvallis, Eugene, Coos Bay, Arcata and Santa Cruz.

In 2009, Blind Pilot added four more touring members to match the sound of their album, 3 Rounds and a Sound. The group started a new U.S. tour in March 2009, the first with the six-member lineup. They headlined in clubs across the country.

The band also filled support slots for Langhorne Slim and Gomez on a handful of dates during this tour. In May 2009, the band traveled to Europe for a series of gigs opening for Counting Crows and The Hold Steady.

Blind Pilot returned to the U.S. in June to join The Decemberists on the road as their opening act. They followed this run with another tour of clubs in the Northeast, Mid-West and Canada.

In August 2009, the band will perform at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, Illinois, and the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, California.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 2:00 pm. It is filed under Live music reviews, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival 2009 and tagged with Blind Pilot, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.