Stephen Ashbrook - White Ballons - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A complete Triumph. - Americana - UK The best album of Ashbrooks career. - Get Out Mag (Phoenix Tribune) A masterpiece. - Portland Tribune. With most records, it's all about the endpoint; Stephen Ashbrook's latest is all about the journey. The path to White Balloons took Ashbrook through multiple states-and states of mind. At the time of Ashbrook's last studio album, 2002's American B Sides, the singer-songwriter had been a star of the Tempe, Arizona scene, with sold-out shows, major tag attention, and even a request from President Clinton for a personal performance. But Ashbrook had grown restless in his environs, and he traded in the dry desert landscape for the vibrant green of the Pacific Northwest. Immersing himself in the burgeoning Portland, Oregon music scene, Ashbrook distinguished himself from the town's hordes of indie rockers with a unique blend of pop, rock, country and folk, drawing packed crowds to his weekly residency. He slowed his touring schedule after the post-B Sides birth of his first child and used the time to reflect on the changes in his life, channeling those thoughts into songs like InchFirst Time,Inch a direct response to his son's birth. When demos of the new tracks made their way into the hands of acclaimed producer and songwriter Pete Droge (a member of songwriting supergroup the Thorns), the beginnings of White Balloons were born. The journey then led Ashbrook to Droge's Puget Sound retreat on Vashon Island, a forested oasis removed from the grind of the music industry Ashbrook had felt pressure to appeal to. Working in collaboration with Droge, Ashbrook opened up the arrangements in a way that allowed the songs to breathe with a new energy. Gone was the straightforwardness of Ashbrook's previous recordings-the rock solos and steady backbeat-replaced instead with a rich, textured sound that mirrored his sylvan settings. For the next f