Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Album: Trumpets for Paper Children EP
Band Members: Amanda Lawrence (viola, vocals), Jade Eckler (vocals), Dave Depper (bass, guitar, keyboard, vocals), Scott Magee (clarinet, percussion, vocals), Ritchie Young (vocals, guitar, percussion), Laurel Simmons (piano, mandolin, percussion, vocals), Jason Leonard (vibes, banjo)
For Fans Of: Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Destroyer
"I don’t usually go to festival shows unless I’m playing, because I feel jealous,” admits sheepish Loch Lomond frontman Ritchie Young. Until recently, his band worked on perfecting its live show in the dark enclaves of theaters and clubs, but it’ll unleash its captivating chamber pop on the wilds of Washington state this summer during its
Sasquatch! Music Festival debut. Onstage, the seven bandmates—including a pianist, a violist and a drummer who plays standing up—slowly build elegant sonic summits that give way to valleys of tenderly picked strings and Young’s hushed, oft-macabre lyrics. “The sounds of children laughing makes my eyes bleed,” he intones on the deceptively lovely “A Field Report,” from the
Trumpets for Paper Children EP, a collection of favorite tracks from the band’s two previous releases. (A late-2009 full-length will showcase a bigger, more road-tested sound.) “I love watching music,” Young says, “but I so much more enjoy playing and performing.”