When it came time to choose the album’s opener, another potential throat surgery threatened more than just the record. “Barstar” ups the ante as an anthem of Ashbrook’s success, chugging keyboards tempered by an echoing vocal that reflects Ashbrook’s tempered vision of his younger days, while “21 Young” explodes with a hook that’s pure pop perfection.īut it wasn’t all easygoing-a polyp on Ashbrook’s vocal chords threatened the record’s completion by forcing throat surgery and a three-month hiatus for recovery. The album’s title track showcases the collaboration perfectly, with a steady acoustic guitar blending with swirling electric tracks and atmospheric synths, all supporting Ashbrook’s resonant voice. Ashbrook and Droge became close friends as the record progressed, and as they grew closer, the record became an imprint of their relationship, the perfect coupling of Ashbrook’s introspective folk-inflected songwriting married to Droge’s spacey, warm arrangements. For the next few months, Ashbrook would drive north every few weeks, board a ferry, and spend weeks in Droge’s Puzzle Tree Studios, taking breaks to explore the expansive property and sometimes camping out in a teepee. Gone was the straightforwardness of Ashbrook’s previous recordings-the rock solos and steady backbeat-replaced instead with a lush, textured sound that mirrored his sylvan settings. Working in collaboration with Droge, Ashbrook opened up the arrangements in a way that allowed the songs to breathe with a new energy. The journey then led Ashbrook to Droge’s Puget Sound retreat on Vashon Island, a forested oasis removed from the grind of the music industry Ashbrook had felt pressure to appeal to. When demos of the new tracks made their way into the hands of acclaimed producer and songwriter Pete Droge (a member of songwriting supergroup the Thorns), the beginnings of White Balloons were born. He slowed his touring schedule after the post-B Sides birth of his first child and used the time to reflect on the changes in his life, channeling those thoughts into songs like “First Time,” a direct response to his son’s birth. Immersing himself in the burgeoning Portland, Oregon music scene, Ashbrook distinguished himself from the town’s hordes of indie rockers with a unique blend of pop, rock, country and folk, drawing packed crowds to his weekly residency.
But Ashbrook had grown restless in his environs, and he traded in the dry desert landscape for the vibrant green of the Pacific Northwest. At the time of Ashbrook’s last studio album, 2002’s American B Sides, the singer-songwriter had been a star of the Tempe, Arizona scene, with sold-out shows, major label attention, and even a request from President Clinton for a personal performance. The path to White Balloons took Ashbrook through multiple states-and states of mind. Call 872-8100 or 671-8100 to charge by phone.With most records, it’s all about the endpoint Stephen Ashbrook’s latest release is all about the journey. Tickets $30, $23.50, $17.50 from the coliseum box office and Ticketmaster locations. Sculley is a frequent contributor to inRoads. So, I wrote those seven tunes and a good portion of the 25 that we picked from, during that summer, definitely I would say that was prolific. "I wasn't working a day job, which was great so I had lost of time on my hands to write.
"I was basically sitting around waiting for the deal to get completed, for the lawyers to get done negotiating the contracts and that kind of stuff," Droge said of the period that produced the new songs. Judging from "Necktie Second," Droge's creative binge produced both quantity and quality in the material. Instead, most of the 25 songs that were considered for the record were written during summer 1993. Ironically, for all the pride Droge feels for the demo, only one song from the tape ended up on "Necktie Second," and that tune, "Straylin Street," was recorded in a significantly different version, he said.