Tonight at the Rumor Mill: The True Spokes

Friday night!

Yesterday, I mentioned that tonight was open mike at the Rumor Mill, but I was going off an old calendar – The True Spokes (they used to be Flowmotion) are coming to town – here’s more from Bob Rees – this is a show you won’t want to miss!

Through a decade of fearless, seat-of-the-pants music-making, countless live performances, and a handful of beloved albums, the Seattle quintet has developed that rare, magnetic combination of radio-ready songcraft and transportive instrumental chops. Through their annual Summer Meltdown festival—held in the beautiful Cascade mountains 12 years running—they’ve cultivated a legion of die-hard fans thirsty for unique music uniquely performed. Theirs is a musical ethos that’s both timeless and totally of the moment.

After all that history, the moment demands a fresh start. Which is why they are the True Spokes, not Flowmotion, as the band was known for the first ten years of its life. Flowmotion is now the True Spokes. The name change coincides with the release of their brand-new, eponymous album, and the timing couldn’t be better.

The True Spokes presents a band matured but not grown up, refined but still renegade. For the first time, singer and guitarist Josh Clauson was abbetted in songwriting by the rest of the group. In fact, Clauson now shares lead vocal duties with guitarist RL Heyer, while drummer Scott Goodwin sings backup. Their three-part harmonies are rife throughout these 11 songs, a soulful vocal outpouring fans have never heard before. Bassist Eric Bryson and percussionist/keyboardist Bob Rees round out the lineup. In its new skin, the band is freer and more cohesive than ever, revealing unexpected touchstones like Steely Dan, the Beach Boys, and Supertramp.

Also for the first time, the band brought in an outside producer. But this was no hired gun: Tim Bluhm first fell for the True Spokes’ music when his band, the Mother Hips, played Summer Meltdown in 2010. To the band, the Hips have been a tremendous inspiration, another longstanding outfit with an improvisational bent, festival-set background, and ear for hooks. They, too, are post-jam and self-aware. In them, and Bluhm in particular, the True Spokes found kindred spirits. Synergy is loud and clear on lead single “Back Porch,” hard-driving anthem “Old at Heart,” and mantra-like album closer “Unravel”—songs that build from ambling meditations to cathartic climaxes. It’s present in the low-key ambiance of “Saving Face” and “Rocketship.” The members of the True Spokes have never been prouder of any album recorded under any name. Fans old and new will surely feel the same

A new year, a new album, a new name, a new swagger: The time is right for the True Spokes.

Sample the new album:  http://truespokes.bandcamp.com/

Pics/videos/music: http://www.truespokes.com

Youtube station:  http://www.youtube.com/thetruespokes

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