Weaned in the mile-high confines of Denver, Colorado, the core of Portland chamber-folk collective Alameda—guitarist/vocalist Stirling Myles, and cellist/vocalist Jessie Dettwiler—have weathered their share of evolutions during their musical marriage. Earning accolades for their collaborative, communal approach in the sharing and writing of songs, the band’s oeuvre welcomes a new addition September 15 with the release of their second full-length album, Procession, on Myles’ label False Migration.
A rolodex of local musicians helped to carve out Myles’ initial output of tunes—the self-released LP Seasons/Specters—in 2010, with more organic instrumentation, culminating in the addition of clarinetist Jennifer Woodall early on. The group now also includes Tim Grimes on guitar, and Barra Brown on drums.
Recorded by Skyler Norwood at Miracle Lake Studios, the band continued its collaborative approach on Procession, bringing in friends Nate Crockett (violinist for Horse Feathers), multi- instrumentalist Dan Pisarcik, and Ages and Ages’ drummer Dan Hunt, among others, to round out production.
“This album is very community oriented, and in some ways it just happened to be that way,” says Myles. “It happened organically. I think you can hear everyone’s enthusiasm.”