Ehren Ebbage
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Ehren Ebbage

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"Ten Cent Souvenir record review"

Ehren Ebbage
Acoustic guitar, I'm gonna make you a star...Ehren Ebbage is a patient guy. By his own account, he waited over 30 years to release his first solo record. That's not to say he hasn't released a few records in his time, but none have been his own. From collaborating on friend, John Shipe's various projects, to playing an integral role in the Justin King Band, to performing with the likes of legendary Pink Floyd cover act, The Floydian Slips, one can accurately accuse Ebbage of getting around. Most recently, Ebbage has lent his talent on lap steel, acoustic guitar, and his most perfect harmonies to Portland's Dimes. But Ebbage's debut LP Ten Cent Souvenir makes the hard work and waiting all worthwhile.

Every once in a while someone can honestly surprise you with a record and Ten Cent Souvenir is one of those. Wonderfully arranged and dramatically reconstructed, Ebbage took a handful of ‘pretty good' songs and transformed them into something grand. The title track is luminous, starting subtly like a prototypical solo acoustic number, then opens up to a more dynamic song, complete with sparkly guitars, glockenspiels, and a driving kick.

I suspect that much of the songs are inspired by Ebbage's experiences; joy and disappointments in love, life and relationships - nothing new to the world of songwriting. But Ebbage has a uniquely endearing method of striking a chord with his listeners, likely the result of his heartfelt approach.

The quintessential Ehren Ebbage song has words which have an eerie yet mesmerizing effect, like "Snakes." Every time I hear this track it leaves me wondering why my eyes feel as if they want to tear up. Ebbage expertly compares a love affair to a snake waiting in tall grass. "At every opportunity, I turn my back and it sneaks up on me, but it doesn't bite, it just hisses and spits. So why should I be scared of it?" - NadaMucho (Seattle)


"Ten Cent Souvenir record review"

Traditionally, I’m not a big fan of acoustic guitar music, it reminds me too much of summer camp sing-alongs and s’mores and almost every Christian “rock” band out there. Despite my bias, there were a few songs on Ehren Ebbage’s debut solo album, Ten Cent Souvenir, that led to obsessive repeat listens. My favorite track on the album was track two, “The Way She Does It”.

Ebbage’s sound reminds me a lot of Train’s lead singer Pat Monahan. They have a similar vocal style and probably would appeal to a similar audience. My feelings are mixed on this album as a whole, however. There were songs that I really got into and sincerely enjoyed listening to over and over. There were also a few songs that were dull and overly slow—“Snakes” and “Earthquakes“—but it was an interesting mix.

There’s no doubt that Ebbage is a phenomenally talented songwriter, his lyrics invoke colorful and extraordinary imagery and read like poems. The majority of his songs were influenced by events and experiences in his life, and his emotions and responses to those experiences are expressed beautifully through his words. Ebbage’s own work highly contrasts that of his work currently as a member of The Dimes, whose harmonious and upbeat songs experiment with a number of different instruments and sounds. Ebbage keeps his solo work pretty consistent, never much venturing out of the acoustic repertoire.

Overall, I liked this album despite some of slower tracks, but they are more than made up for with “The Way She Does It”, “Bury That Feeling”, and the title track “Ten Cent Souvenir”. My own personal music tastes tend to favor the slightly more upbeat sound Ebbage produces as a member of the Dimes, but his solo album is very well written and performed. Ehren Ebbage is a truly talented vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist, and it’s hard to nail all three of those down. - Northwest Noise (Portland)


"EP release"

Ebbage has been traveling a lot lately. He squeezed the making of his EP into his schedule, which has been dominated by touring and recording with the Epic-signed Justin King Band.

But it was important for Ebbage, who's played with a number of local bands, to have a musical sampling in his voice alone. Ebbage has been contributing to others' albums since he graduated from South Eugene High School in 1994.

Ebbage spent much of that decade playing with John Shipe, one of the founders of the Renegade Saints. He also played with the Eugene band Orange and the Pink Floyd cover project, the Floydian Slips.

Shipe likely will join Ebbage on some of his new songs during the Sam Bond's show.

"Everything I've done up to this point has been a collaborative effort," Ebbage said during a recent interview. "My role has been working to bring the group's creative ideas to frui- tion.

"In that process, you compromise some of your ideas."

But on "Bottlerocket," Ebbage said he was able to "chase down every creative impulse" and make the songs sound the way he wanted them to.

The six songs on the EP deal, as Ebbage said, deal with matters of the heart, as the singer-songwriter genre is wont to do. His songs are straightforward stories, and he plays all the instruments on each track.

He also produced and engineered the CD.

Ebbage said he doesn't have a specific goal for the release, and hasn't set up a distribution network.

But he said putting it out is something of a "pressure release" for him.

"When songs sit around too long, they get stale and you don't want to have anything to do with them."

Working with King and being around the professionals at Epic has opened some doors for Ebbage, however. So it will be handy for him to have a quality do-it-yourself project to give interested parties an idea of what Ebbage is capable of as a solo artist.

Ebbage, whose main instrument is the guitar, said he knows other people would be able to play the parts in his songs better than he could. But he added that the product is not half bad considering he played all the instruments, sang lead vocals and harmonies, and engineered and produced it.

Ebbage gathered all the recordings over the course of 15 months from sessions up and down the West Coast. Tracks were laid down in basements, bathrooms and studios, including King's in Eugene, according to liner notes.

The most radio-ready of the songs is probably "The Way She Does It," which combines vivid imagery ("her teeth aren't straight, but she's still pretty") with fast-moving guitar work, pretty harmonies and a catchy melody.

Listening to the song, you can almost see a girl at some future show swaying her hips to the beat, her face glowing from stage lights. She has one hand on the stage, the other in the back pocket of her jeans. The girl is wishing anyone would ever understand her the way Ebbage seems to understand the one in the song.

"Every song was inspired by a feeling or thought," Ebbage said. "But in some of these songs, I took that feeling and dramatized it."

There's no shortage of drama in Ebbage's songs, but he surely hasn't used up all 30 years of his romantic sagas on his first CD. Maybe the EP will land him his own record deal and the rest of the story will be told.


- Register-Guard


Discography

Ten Cent Souvenir, 2008
Bottlerocket, 2007 (EP)

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Bio

"Ehren was great to work with and our students loved having him play."

Allison Griffith
SUB Advisor
Drury University

"Ehren was fun and delightful to work with. I look forward to having him again for another fantastic show next year"

Elezar Kenig
Student Activities Board
Illinois Institute of Technology

2009 has been a great year for Ehren Ebbage. Less than a year after releasing his debut record, 'Ten Cent Souvenir', Ehren has toured the United States several times and his songs have been featured on NPR and major network television including ABC's series finale of 'Eli Stone'.

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Ebbage spent several years with Justin King's band, which was signed to Epic Records, playing guitar and singing on the group's first two EPs and full-length record.

Ebbage's debut album, Ten Cent Souvenir, was released in May of 2008 and features twelve memorable tracks. These songs span a spectrum of human emotion, from the pain and helplessness of war in 'Brother' to the declaration of independence in 'I'm Not Sorry', to the bliss of finding someone perfect in 'Earthquakes'. Ebbage also shows his range musically, tending toward alt-country on tracks like 'The Way She Does It' and towards rock 'n' roll on the album's title track and others.

Ten Cent Souvenir was produced by Zac Rae, who has contributed to the music of a long list of artists, including Sea Wolf, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morisette. Rae also plays keyboards on most of the album's tracks, as does David Immergluck of Counting Crows. Ten Cent Souvenir is available for purchase through CDBaby and iTunes.

In addition to touring as a solo artist, Ehren plays lap steel, guitar and sings with up-and-coming Portland indie rockers The Dimes. He will be touring the United States throughout 2008.