Pete Krebs & The Gossamer Wings premiere the title track off All My Friends Are Ghosts (Cavity Search Records) today with American Songwriter. AS describes, “Krebs poeticism is almost reminiscent of the way Townes Van Zandt could nonchalantly present pure lyrical brilliance without a trace of the immense effort it took to write”. The album will be released on the first of three Record Store Day Drops on August 29, 2020. The legendary Portland, OR musician’s first solo album in 20 years contains 10 original songs, inspired by a few decades that have seemed like a lifetime and recorded with friends in his hometown of Portland, OR. As Krebs describes, “This album has been a labor of love, 20 years in the making.”
All My Friends Are Ghosts represents the past 20 years of Pete’s life, a period of time full of challenges, including a cancer diagnosis in 2013 which was a close call that changed everything for him. “Everyone has a reckoning in life. We coast for awhile until something wakes us up and we have to change,” Krebs explains. The Portland community rallied for Pete during his illness, coming together to raise money to help with his expenses and get him back on his feet and making music again. The outpouring of support he received is a testament to how beloved the songwriter is among his community.
Krebs has been a seminal member of the Portland, OR music scene since the late 80s and his bands (especially Sub Pop trailblazers Hazel) have helped define Portland’s musical landscape. The body of work from his many different projects – Golden Delicious, The Stolen Sweets, Pete Krebs and his Portland Playboys, The Catnip Brothers and his solo career with his backing band The Gossamer Wings – have made him a respected elder statesman of the local scene. His musical influence extends beyond Portland, with a catalog of a couple dozen albums released on Sub Pop, Rough Trade and Portland’s own Cavity Search Records. He has recorded with Elliott Smith, banjo iconoclast Danny Barnes and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden, among others.
A curious and versatile musician, Krebs’ output hasn’t been limited to a single genre. In addition to his own original material, he’s explored punk rock, gypsy jazz, traditional country and pre-war jazz, taking a working musician’s approach to learning, writing and performing the various genres that he calls home. This double Oregon Music Hall of Fame Inductee has played Lollapalooza, has had videos on MTV and shared the stage with Nirvana, the Melvins, Catpower, Mudhoney, Peter Rowan and John Doe/The Knitters, just to name just a few. Putting the music first, he’s always focused on well-crafted, honest songs and a soulful approach to performance.
Two decades ago, his focus began to shift. After a lifetime as working musician, typically playing 250 shows a year, he felt like he had metaphorically painted himself into a corner, and needed to make a drastic change. So, Krebs sold his house, moved to Europe and traveled the countryside seeking out contemporary Gypsy guitarists who were following in the footsteps of the legendary jazz musician, Django Reinhardt.
While he might have changed location, he wasn’t running. Confronting new challenges, sitting with (and wrestling with) them, allowed him to come out on the other side both clearer and stronger with a renewed motivation for his creative life and a depth and vision for this new album. “I came full circle. This new album is a return to what I used to do, but with a new lightness. I’m not holding on to the songs as tightly as I used to.”
The songs on the album are snapshots of the last twenty years of Krebs’ journey, written with the considered honesty of someone who has taken stock of all he has experienced. While exploring heavier, darker subjects, he somehow counterbalances them with an inspiring positivity and a feel good melodicism. The title track is a song that has been rattling around Krebs’ brain for 20 years. The chorus is a reference to death’s liberation as told by his many old drinking friends that have passed on. “Brightest Stars” was inspired by a beloved parental figure, whose unexpected and tragic death shook his faith in divine judgment. “Blue Horizon” was originally an exercise in trying to write something Willie Nelson might sing, but it meandered into a bit of an homage to the sound of the Texas Tornadoes with its mix of country music and cojunto. “I’m Just Searching For You” is about his hometown of Portland and all the rapid changes that have occurred there, leaving the locals a bit shell-shocked and the city visually and intrinsically changed.
This album finds Krebs at his best, writing personal songs that resonate with universal truths and melodies that find their way into the head and the heart. Krebs states, “This is a blue collar album. The songs are honest and real, there is no filler here.”
All My Friends Are Ghosts was recorded by Jon Neufeld in Portland, OR. The artwork for the album was painted by Sean Croghan (Crackerbash, Jr. High, The Pynnacles, The Mistons), a seminal figure, author and musician in Portland. The Gossamer Wings feature veteran Portland musicians including members of Richmond Fontaine and The Decemberists.
Track Listing
1. My True Love Is A Beautiful Bird
2. All My Friends Are Ghosts
3. Brightest Stars
4. Blue Horizon
5. Cottonwood
6. Faraway, Blue
7. Olive
8. I’m Just Searching For You
9. Sound + Fury
10. Be Happy Today
