RyeHollow

Friday, July 15, 2005
By COREY duBROWA
DIGGING THE ROOTS OF RYE HOLLOW -- For acoustic trio Rye Hollow, age-old
questions of genre have become a running joke within the band. It's not a
matter of to be or not to be, but "does it really matter if we don't know
what to be?"
"We've been struggling a bit lately, figuring out what to call ourselves,"
bassist Chris Chard confirms with a laugh. "We're not necessarily country or
pop, and probably not singer-songwriter-influenced, either. It's more a
fusion of all of it."
No matter what the group is labeled, it's clear that their blend of finely
wrought melody and deceptively simple storytelling -- when presented with
the considerable strength of voice possessed by the band's principal lyric
writer and singer, 22-year-old Breanna Paletta -- is finding an audience.
The Portland group's tasteful opening gambit, "Where I Come From," has
already scored considerable airplay on radio station KINK and has been
championed nationally by other so-called adult album alternative stations.
The track has held its own alongside similarly stripped-down tunes from the
Innocence Mission, the Sundays and Sarah McLachlan. Judge for yourself at
their Saturday CD-release show at the Aladdin.
Rye Hollow's history can be traced to Chris Gragg's Reynolds High School
program "Deep Roots," which encourages aspiring lyricists to offer their
work to local musicians as part of a collaborative songwriting process.
Paletta was a senior in Gragg's English class when she contributed lyrics to
the project. Her song "I Want Sound" was recorded by the American Girls on
the 2001 "Deep Roots 4" compilation. After graduating, Paletta continued her
involvement with the venture and met Chard and guitarist Kevin O'Loughlin
while all three were working on songs for 2004's "Deep Roots 7."
"We were involved in separate projects, hooked up through a mutual contact,
and it just clicked," Paletta says. "For a while, I took over for Kellie"
(O'Loughlin's wife, Kellie Bishop, in the band Far From Home) "while she was
taking some time off. I was just filling in for her, doing their songs.
"Then Kevin and I branched off and started writing our own music. That's
when Chris came along, and Rye Hollow was born."
Given O'Loughlin's blues/rock roots, Chard's involvement in jazz, big band
and jam rock and Paletta's affinity for confessional singer-songwriters,
it's little wonder that Rye Hollow's sound has proved so difficult to
classify.
The band's eponymous debut EP covers a palette of musical moods, from the
breezy jazz inflections of "Wonderland" to the aching blues of "Break the
Eye," all colored by Paletta's distinctive vocals.
"A few of the songs are semi-autobiographical," Paletta says of the
material's poignancy. " 'Leaving San Jose' was a concept that Kevin came up
with -- leaving his family, his hometown. I just took that and wrote it from
my perspective, made it a sad love song instead."
Whatever the label, whatever the style, Rye Hollow is well worth seeking
out.
Corey duBrowa is a Portland freelance writer.
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1121
16247164490.xml&coll=7
- The Oregonian

RyeHollow: Tampa DJ Ford Prefect described Portland's RyeHollow as "the
audio equivalent of a great book and a mug of hot tea on a rainy day."

The soothing folk-pop band may be celebrating the release of its debut,
self-titled CD, but it's already receiving airplay on major stations,
including local heavyweight KINK (102 FM). Often compared with Nickel Creek,
RyeHollow is sweet and accessible, though the bandmates are not simpletons.
Breanna Paletta's lyrics often dig deeper than most current folky girl-pop
acts.

Born out of the innovative Deep Roots program, which partners Reynolds High
School students with local musicians, the band appears prepared to become a
radio staple.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=30795
- The Portland Tribune

Top sellers at Music Millennium

Friday, July 29, 2005

Sales for the week ended July 23

1 Ryehollow Ryehollow

2 2005 PDX Pop Now! various artists

3 Illinoise Sufjan Stevens

4 Countryman Willie Nelson

5 Okemah and the Melody of Riot Son Volt

6 Let It Die Feist

7 X&Y Coldplay

8 Honeycomb Frank Black

9 In Between Dreams Jack Johnson

10 Guero Beck - The Oregonian

January 6, 2005 - Catch this band now before they explode on the scene.
Rye Hollow’s demo debut is one of the most interesting pieces of music I’ve heard in a long time. Two parts The Story, one part The Sundays, one part Innocence Mission and a heaping helping of their own unique style puts this band on the map of up and coming bands to watch. By early 2005, an EP will be out that will become an instant classic for the Portland scene.
The Good: We get to catch this band now before they explode on the scene.
The Bad: They will explode on the scene and we won’t be able to see them as much in the future.

http://kink.fm/index.php/weblog/more/rye_hollow_full_on_talent/ - KINK FM

'Hearts' afire

Friday, March 31, 2006
COREY duBROWA

What were you doing at age 22?

Chances are that, unless your last name is Jagger or McCartney, you probably weren't hammering out original songs that might end up on the playlists of influential national radio programmers.

Though she's not yet elevated to quite that level of musical greatness, this is nonetheless what Portland's Breanna Paletta spent the last year doing with her band, RyeHollow: She lent either an author's pen or a composer's ear to nine of the 11 tracks on the band's debut full-length release, "Hearts Like These."

Beyond all else, Paletta's vocals are the engine that powers RyeHollow's precocious pop. Her distinctive voice gives the songs a certain lived-in character and takes its material to a place beyond most of the similarly confessional rock-lite that has become the bread and butter of the adult album alternative radio format by stations such as Portland's KINK-FM, which has already placed the album's standout track, "Any Way You Say It," into rotation.

Paletta is joined by guitarist and frequent co-writer Kevin O'Loughlin, bassist Chris Chard and new drummer Andy Uppendahl, whose understated percussion infuses the album with an urgency that went missing on the band's more folk-indebted eponymous E.P.

Between the brisker pacing afforded by Uppendahl's drumming and the splashes of color by O'Loughlin's slide and electric guitars, it's clear that RyeHollow has traveled a considerable distance between the two releases. While Paletta's "Erosion" remains closer to the Sarah McLachlan-like gauziness of the E.P., such tracks as "Tipping Point" reveal a certain Anglophilic influence (with a chorus that leans toward the twisted power pop of Crowded House), while "On the Shelf" and "Dirt Floor" both directly or indirectly reference Buckingham/Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac, the latter an instrumental set piece that surveys the grit of "Gold Dust Woman" to nice effect.

"Hearts Like These" is not flawless. The title track, for instance, sounds a touch too similar to the now-outdated bounce of Counting Crows. But nevertheless, it plays excellently to the members' strengths and points toward a bright future if the band's creative growth, Paletta's writing in particular, continues apace.

Corey duBrowa: coreydubrowa@hotmail.com

Original article: http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1143510909114210.xml?oregonian?alms&coll=7 - The Oregonian

Locally grown Rye Hollow wouldn't be the same without Breanna Paletta, the composer and songwriter who sculpted the band's introduction, "Hearts Like These." Not that slide guitarist Kevin O'Loughlin, bassist Chris Chard and drummer Andy Uppendahl are slacking. But it's Paletta's countrified Aimee Mann voice and allegorical writing that gives this Oregon group the edge. Tracks such as "Any Way You Say It" tip their pop hand, but with slower tracks such as "Erosion," it's apparent an alt-country band is inside just waiting to shine. - Nathan Skidmore