Blind Pilot, Allen Stone, JD McPherson

[PERSONAL POP] Blind Pilot doesn’t demand your attention the way some of Portland’s other best-known acts do. It doesn’t stab like the Thermals, stagger like the Shins or stupefy like the Decemberists. The band’s songs—even the loud ones—tend to whisper. But there are real, human thrills to be found in the warm folds of Israel Nebeker’s songwriting and a controlled muscle to Ryan Dobrowski’s percussion that keeps even the slowest of slow jams from growing dull. Those core musical architects were painstaking in building themselves into a sextet a half-decade ago, and these days Blind Pilot is among Portland’s biggest musical exports. A recent tour alongside (or rather, intermingled with) Calexico is a pretty good indicator of just what kind of outfit this is: a classy, musically unimpeachable one with ample heart and staying power. 

Where: Roseland Theater
Phone: 224-2038
Address: 8 NW 6th Ave.
Website: www.doubletee.com/rose_schedule.shtml