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Jun 24, 2009 By Kyle Lemmon Port O’Brien

Oakland’s Port O’Brien may have started as a ramshackle bedroom project for the musical duo of of Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin, but now the folk-rock group has ballooned to a thriving fivesome. Port O’Brien is ready to release their third LP of folk-rock tracks, threadbare. The September 29th release sees the coastal band riding an unforeseen sea chage from 2007’s bouyant All We Could Do Was Sing. The new LP’s darker passages are due in large part to Goodwin reeling from the tragic passing of her younger brother. The two-sided album contains plenty of the band’s typically upbeat tracks as well.

The recording process stretched up and down California, starting at the San Francisco living room studio of longtime friend and current tourmate Jason Quever (Papercuts). The bouncier tracks were taken care of at L.A.‘s Ship studios, with Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart. As of press time, the band was still searching for the perfect domestic record label home for threadbare.

Here are some interesting tidbits the band revealed in a press release, regarding some of the songs (the full tracklisting is below):

“‘High Without the Hope’ bookends the album, illuminating the emotion and sense of loss that was felt throughout the recording process.”

“‘My Will is Good’ and ‘Oslo Campfire’ describe the liberation that follows in the wake of making active changes in one’s life following tragedy.”

threadbare‘s track list:

01. High Without the Hope 3
02. My Will Is Good
03. Oslo Campfire
04. In The Meantime
05. Tree Bones
06. Sour Milk/ Saltwater
07. Threadbare
08. Calm Me Down
09. Leap Year
10. Next Season
11. (((Darkness Visible)))
12. Love Me Through
13. High Without the Hope 72

Also, Port O’Brien is currently on a jaunt of the West Coast with Papercuts, with a European tour planned for August:

6/24 Crepe Place – Santa Cruz, CA^
6/25 The Independent – San Francisco, CA*
6/26 The Echo – Los Angeles, CA*
6/27 Downtown Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA*
8/14 Haldern Pop Festival – Haldern, Germany
8/16 Summer Sundae Weekender – Leicester, U.K.
8/17 Night and Day Cafe – Manchester, U.K. *
8/18 Borderline – London, U.K.
8/20 Pukkelpop Festival – Kiewet, Belgium
8/21 Highfield Festival – Erfurt, Germany
8/22 Frequency Festival – St Poltenm, Austria
8/24 Noorderzon Festival – Groningen, Holland
8/25 Tivoli – Utrecht, Holland

^w/ Devotionals
* w/ the Papercuts

(www.myspace.com/portobrien)