Hails from the Salem, Oregon area and has been at it for nigh on a decade. Their eponymous debut was released in 2003 on Not Lame Records and reissued in Japan on Wizzard-in-Vinyl in 2004. Drawing on a rich tradition of melodic power-pop and misery meeting harmony, Easterly and its Japanese reissue solicited favorable commentary:
"Easterly's Noah Hall is a power-pop troubadour in the tradition of Ken Stringfellow and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake, dispensing agile three-minute slices of guitar-laden bliss." - Neal Agneta, The Big Takeover
"The opening licks of Easterly's impressive debut...take me back to the mid to late 1980's when Galaxie 500 were blowing my mind." - Edward Burch, The Paper
"One is lulled into a sense of calm and tranquility by the gentle pop harmonies, not knowing until dissecting the lyrics, that each lyric reveals pain. If you combine the vocal style of the Pernice Brothers, the poppy catches of Fountains of Wayne, and the tenderness of Matthew Sweet, you'll come pretty close to describing Easterly" - Terrance Terich, treblezine.com
The passage of six plus years brought the addition of Rich Swanger and Stan Keightley to the band, solo albums for Noah (Whiskey Priest - Hungry) and Rich (Seahorse - I'll Be New), and the slow build towards another Easterly recording project, one that finally commenced in 2009 and 2010. Deliberate to a fault, Easterly is pleased finally to offer its second album, Probability, on its own label, Bric-a-Brac Records. Probability continues to mine the sonic sunshine and narrative turbulence that fueled the songs on the debut. It also brings forth new layers and textures and glimmers of rebirth, innocence, hopefulness, and the possibility that the equation, however complicated, has a workable solution.
Buy at: Parasol CD Baby or Apple iTunes
In an age defined by packed cables full of zinging 1's and 0's, it's no wonder the music soundscape is awash in compressed MP3 files, digital singles, and MySpace audio streams. It's a 'trade your guitar lessons for Garage Band' kind of world, and fewer and fewer artists seem able to traverse the technological void to truly move the listener. Less and less, we hear about the true album "experience," those formative moments where you remember the exact moment you heard the record that changed the colors in your world. And how many of those moments come from the self-recorded release?
Buy at: Parasol CD Baby or Apple iTunes
Parasol.com says it short, sweet and to the point, "Oh. My. Whiskey Priest (Easterly’s Noah Hall) has just delivered The Best and downy softest soft-pop, singer-songwriter record of the year. Songs sung in a Beautiful Hushed Voice, gently impelled by toney unplugged plucks and strums, backed by piano, reedy keys and various otherworldly sounds, like a celestial music box. Think Kevin Tihista at his most intimate and balladeering. We are smitten, nay, smote."