Watch Rising Portland Country Singer Kassi Valazza’s Live Set for KEXP

In the 30-minute video, the band plays four spacious but rollicking ballads, guided by Valazza’s virtuosic country croon.

By Shannon Gormley

This week, Portland's Kassi Valazza achieved something of a career milestone for an independent musician: a live set on KEXP.

The legendary Seattle radio station recently released video of a session that Valazza and her band played back in January. In the 30-minute clip, the band—comprising stalwart local musicians, including Laurelthirst co-owner Lewi Longmire—plays four spacious but rollicking ballads, guided by Valazza's virtuosic country croon.

Most of the songs are from the Portland-based, Arizona-raised musician's debut album, Dear Dead Days, which she self-released last year. But the set also includes the premiere of the forlorn "Like Ever Before," a song that Valazza describes as about "loving somebody that's not willing to love themselves yet."

Watch the full video here:

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Kassi ValazzaKEXPLaurelthirstLewi Longmire

Shannon Gormley

Shannon Gormley

Shannon Gormley is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She covers local and non-local music in Portland, and writes for Baltimore City Paper whenever she's visiting her hometown.

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