Rose City Band – Earth Trip
Thrill Jockey – 25 June 2021
Ripley Johnson has found a way to carry on in spite of the past 15 months, and Earth Trip by his Rose City Band recounts much of what has gone down and his remarkable ability to keep pressing ahead. Plucked off the road and hunkered down in Portland for the first time in years, he began to take advantage of the small things, hikes in nature, bathing outdoors and waking with the first rays of dawn. Becoming more connected with the natural world he found a sense of awe and wonder that exists in the simplest of things. He took advantage of pleasures like tending to his own garden and sleeping out under the stars, developing a sense of harmony that is so easy to mindlessly look beyond.
Within Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo he gets to explore other colours, but Rose City Band helps to reconnect him using a sturdy country-rock format that’s also ready-made for instrumental exploration. Johnson handles most of the instrumental work, although John Jeffery plays the drums, while Ryan Jewell percusses on everything from bongos to toothpicks and Barry Walker adds some pedal steel work to this laidback affair.
What transpires over the course of these nine songs begins with a recounting of his own journey home on “Silver Roses.” Rather than being maudlin, the song offers the first sign of hope in the final lines with Johnson making it clear, “Feeling sorry/ But rolling home/ To see my baby.” Even against the veil of all that was unknown, he finds things to keep him centred. It’s a message he keeps coming back to in his writing.
What sets this music apart is Johnson’s ability to set a tone and lead listeners on an exploration of pathways that offer a calming and contentment one didn’t even seem to know was needed. Usually, it stems from the simplest of things. “In the Rain” offers a sense of peace that enervates an extending guitar foray proving Johnson’s point, “Life’s sweet song/ I behold/ In the rain.” It’s the little things that seem to keep making a big difference.
Circular guitar riffs fill the auditory field on “Ramblin with the Day.” One of the faster numbers on Earth Trip, it is filled with an understanding of what has been gained in having to step back from the constant motion forward. In being able to take a moment to breathe again there is an insight to be gained. “Feeling of the dirt in my toes/ Wandering in the cold morning dew/ Thought about a soul I could never really know/ Time is rolling through.” Taking time to take in what’s going on around us makes such a difference if we all take the time to do so.
There is a beautiful sense of hope that fills the solos of “Dawn Patrol (Earth Trip).” Allowing yourself to get lost in the magic you come out in a most unexpected place, refreshed and revived. These are moments that we need to hold on to as the pandemic slowly comes to its inevitable close. There are lessons to be learned and on Earth Trip, Rose City Band suggests that we continue to take a moment just to breathe.
Earth Trip releases June 25, 2021 on Thrill Jockey (including Forest Green Vinyl…)