evenkeel

One day you wake up feeling discouraged from fighting the good fight for so long only to find out you got nowhere. You look around and you feel that all you have left, the only thing that has any meaning is art. Making music became the only viable option after becoming disenchanted with careers in politics and business for the founding members of evenkeel.

Joe Landry, Jason Lander and Clint Christensen all grew up together in Dallas, Oregon. Joe started playing acoustic guitar years ago, while Jason grew up signing in various music groups and Clint playing classical instruments like the violin. Joe pulled the three together, begging for the group to finally do something with their musical talents. Soon after, these three formed a band initially called Velcro Republic. After playing together for over a year they met up with Devan Kansagara who moved to Oregon from the East Coast and has played guitar for over 15 years. A few months later, they met Daren Dixon, a very experienced drummer who has played for over 20 years and been involved with several bands and musical projects.

Each individual brings unique influences and styles to the group that gives evenkeel their distinctive sound. Joe has a heavy influence in Americana/Roots Rock type music such as Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie and Wilco. Jason has always been influenced by more mainstream rock such as Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Clint brings the influence of Classical instruments such as the violin, as well as bands like U2. Devan has a deep influence in blues, jazz and singer/songwriters such as Elvis Costello. Finally, Daren brings a deep rooted influence in heavy, rhythmic rock from bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin, and adds a sophisticated, nuanced touch to the sound of evenkeel's music.

The confluence of these backgrounds gives evenkeel their unique sound; which may be best described as existing at the interface of late 60's Classic, 70's riffin', alternative rock.