Sarah Edmonds’s career in music exists to paint an intimate portrait of transformation and acceptance. Blossoming with the warmth and care required to look within, her music as Larsen Gardens is an alchemical reflection of what it’s like to boldly shine light into a shadowy place. Hailing from music city where she was a devotee to cool jazz and intimate vocal stylings of the 40s and 50s and where she made a jazz record with world-renowned pianist Beegie Adair, Sarah found her writer’s voice when she moved to Seattle in 2017. Embracing her penchant for nuanced oddity and vulnerability quickly empowered her writer’s voice, and Sarah established herself as a musical and creative force in Seattle. Her collection of songs gained the interest of Nashville friends and producers Jen Gunderman (Sheryl Crow, Jayhawks) and Joe Pisapia (KD Lang, Guster), and the result is a dreamy, hopeful kaleidoscope of mellotron, washy guitars, twinkling piano, and, in some tracks, lo-fi apartment-recording and producing. Her record affirms that it’s okay to feel how you feel: “A lot of people are out there feeling things and they don’t even know it; or they're scared to show it. Being real with ourselves about the nuance of sad or unwanted feelings can actually be quite pleasurable when we sense we’re not alone in it…and wow when someone realizes this they crack right open into love and acceptance and it’s one of the most beautiful things to witness.” So setting the scene for this kind of transformation, we learn, is hardly as important as respecting the path by which to get there–the path of transcendence through self-acceptance, accomplished only with the fiercest of kindness and willingness to remain open-hearted no matter the obstacle. Moonflower showcases both the raw and well-executed in “Feel Good,” the easy listening and vulnerability of “Clouds,” and finally the hopeful foreshadow of work to come in the explosive “Halfway There.” With this record and the live transmission of its gift, listeners receive an experience of dimensional beauty that is mysteriously and simultaneously deeply human and altogether transcendent.
Kyle J. Glenn (he/him) is a singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon, who has been writing and performing his own songs since 2014. His music blends folk rock, alt-country, and singer-songwriter traditions, and his latest record, “Everywhere is Close to Somewhere Else”, reflects a decade-long journey to find "home." Inspired by artists like Gillian Welch, John Prine, and Big Thief, Kyle's story-driven songs have earned him features on Kink FM 102's Homegrown Discovery and performances at venues across the U.S., Spain, and Portugal. Kyle can be found around the PNW performing solo and backed by his band, The Wandering Kind.
Mikey Whalen
https://mikeywhalen.com/
Is a Portland-based songwriter who draws inspiration from the songwriting heavy hitters of decades past. His songs tell stories of lovable misfits and existential woes, sometimes melancholic, sometimes humorous, and often both.