March 16, 2015 | 0 Comments

SAN JUAN – HORIZONS is at Top 200 Radio NOW!!

My second add in 2015 is a really great one! They’re from Seattle, so the name is more closely related to the nearby San Juan Islands than Puerto Rico. Shout out to Rainy Dawg Radio for introducing us!! They’ve got a heavy whiff of that boy-girl folky love-song stuff you can’t get enough of via the likes of The Head and the Heart, Us the Duo, Angus & Julia Stone, The Civil Wars, The Swell Season…you get it. My favorite track is the last one on this six-track album, so if you want to jump to the really good stuff (or if you’re a hater and about to give up), skip to the end. And then get down to spinning and charting this thing!! We already made our Top 200 chart debut last week, at #145…this band is well on the way to greatness!

SAN JUAN

HORIZONS

Self-Released

San Juan has what you might call a relaxed edge to them, and they enjoy being such a contradiction in terms. On the forefront are tight, resonating vocals and a keen sense of melody. Bluesy undertones alongside singer-songwriter influences create a basis for folk-rock love songs that you can’t help but sway along to. Dreamy male and female harmonies over an alt-Americana trio of guitar, bass, and drums build their translucent, moonlit sound.

It all started with Kyle R. Andrews’ deep cutting voice and alternative-folk guitar at the end of 2011. He expanded the work of his initial solo album with the addition of Amie Rippeteau’s fiercely enchanting voice: together, the two offered a vocal texture that their audience could not only hear, but feel. Soon after, Joel Hughes was added as bass player, bringing a meticulous ear for song development, which helped give the music an even flow. San Juan was complete with the addition of Jeff Muschett on drums, whose background in jazz drumming carried a groove that fit right in with the band’s growing sound. The quartet, having formed during their time together at the University of Washington, played more than a handful of shows within Seattle before the fall of 2012. Then their streak paused when frontman Kyle R. Andrews left for a West Coast bicycle trip full of house concerts (a touring style Andrews plans to expand upon starting in June 2015, when he’ll embark on a 4-month bicycle tour from Seattle to Maine). After his return from that trip, Andrews began writing music specifically to fit San Juan’s unique sound.

The 6 tracks of Horizons comprise San Juan’s first studio album, recorded with the help of Grammy winner & producer Justin Armstrong (Deathcab for Cutie’s Plans, Nirvana, Dave Matthews). Open up the CD packaging and lay it flat to see the disparate elements of its design come together in a surprising bonus display of beauty: a sly hint at the story of the music to be found inside.

RIYL: The Head and The Heart, Us the Duo, Angus & Julia Stone, The Civil Wars, The Swell Season

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