Current: Matt Lounsbury (Vocals and Guitar) from Knoxville, TN, Jason Madore (Piano, Bass) from Louisville, KY; Jeffrey Hardison (Drums) from Louisville, KY; Blake Hoover (Bass, Guitar) from Eugene, OR. Alumni: Jason Medema -- Guitar; Geoff Cecil -- Keyboards.
Influences
alabama, zoviet france, thrasher's skate rock compilation vol. 4
Portland, Oregon's Antler Records released Hello Damascus' debut album Harvest Dolls in July 2006 on vinyl. As an olive branch to those without record players, the entire album Harvest Dolls can now be downloaded at last.fm.
In terms of indie rock, I tend to like what I like and not much else, and I know I like Hello Damascus. I like that its only release is vinyl-only on a punk record label. I like Matt Lounsbury's baritone. I like how soft-edged and unassuming the whole thing is. I love the song "Etheridge," with its three-minute snare roll and winsome, melancholy guitar melodies that make it perfect empty, nighttime backroad music. Perfect for distant mountains reflecting half-moons, or desert floors reflecting starlight. Perfect for mourning the day. I'd like it if you liked this band, too.-- Michael Byrne of Willamette Week and Local Cut
... the dark portents and lush arrangements of the cleverly constructed pop songs on its debut album, Harvest Dolls, sounds like it could easily be situated in Will Oldham's Louisville, Ky., the National's New York, or David Berman's (Silver Jews) Nashville, Tenn.-- Dave Clifford of Willamette Week
Local boys Hello Damascus are like some kind of super combo of modern folk, a little Wilco, some Pedro the Lion, and some sad, lonesome Low. Their new [album], Harvest Dolls, features killer backing vocals from Lisa Molinaro of Talkdemonic and Decemberists fame. -- Portland Mercury (12/28/06)
Once again, from the first touch-down of the needle, I liked what I was hearing. But it wasn't until the sixteenth listen, the twenty-seventh, even the fifty-fourth spin for some tracks, that the songs cautiously but obligingly started to reveal their full capacities. -- Charlie B. of Nerd Litter blog
In the last year or so, Hello Damascus could be seen live with DeVotchka, Catfish Haven, alaska!, Long Winters, Pit er Pat, Matteah Baim, Jesse Sykes, Scout Niblett, Norfolk & Western and Dolorean. For the first part of 2007, the band will be concentrating on writing and recording their follow up to 2006's Harvest Dolls.
Hello Damascus' debut album "Harvest Dolls," commercially available in vinyl format only, can be acquired directly from the record label Antler Records. (Label owner Rico Myszewski at kahveh@hotmail.com.) Those near Portland, Ore. can also find the record at Anthem Records (SE Belmont) or Jackpot Records locations (W. Burnside and SE Hawthorne).
One of Hello Damascus' shows is picked on the Concert Co-Op Podcast for the week of March 9th, 2009.
The Concert Co-Op Podcast runs down notable shows happening in Portland area each week.
If you haven't heard, podcasts are radio shows that you download as MP3s and listen to whenever you want. Search for "Concert Co-Op" on iTunes and click the "subscribe" button. You'll automatically get the show each Sunday when it comes out.
The songs of Pop Tomorrow have accompanied me on most of the Autumn walks I've had so far this rushing season, and that's at least two walks a day.
What I loved so much about "Harvest Dolls"—the isolation like in a Hopper painting, the deceptively slow and steady motor, the turpentine fuzz and, of course, the vocabulary (I've been wrapping my noodle around the notion of a Harbinger's Weekend for over 5 years now)—has returned to roost in a family of songs that that wear their hearts on their kneecaps, under my pants where I only notice them when I kneel to pray. Which these songs, with their new patinas of piano and snare, have led me to do far more often than I'm ready to admit.
"Etheridge" is brutal the way lace is brutal. "Medal for Your Friends" rusts itself into your winter jacket. That song about sisters has in me a blood brother. And so on—and so, so on.
Hey HD - we wanted to invite you to our Portland CD Release for "Marveling the While" this Saturday, 4/12, at Mississippi Studios. It's an early show @ 7pm (with Ezra Carey). Would love it if you could come...cheers, the starlings
Really love the tunes: i hope we can play a show together sometime We are playing a show this saturday the 12th at mississippi Studios at 7pm. come on out if you want
This is my music video for "It's Not Easy When You're Me"
You guys, I've been told I need to do a better job of promotimg my band, so I'm trying my hand at ye olde myspace spamming... Have you ever been friends with a myspace spammer? Have you ever woken up next to a myspace spammer? I figure in the future we'll all probably be robots anyway, so I'm cool with it...
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