Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags:

Contrary to contemporary music trends, Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags do not fit neatly into a scene, nor do they care to. Instead, they play gritty, melodic songs that float somewhere between an old school 60s/70s songwriter aesthetic and a contemporary alt-country Americana furnace blast. Barr's disturbing yet comfortable boozy vocal style and emotionally incisive songwriting sit front and center, flanked by a 6-piece outfit that can deliver weepy grooves, jangly tin-pan alley pop, suicidal ballads, garage rock, grinding two-steps and near psychedelic opuses, all while sounding like a true band. Acoustic guitar, pedal steel and keyboards tangle with overdriven guitar; four-part harmonies recall the Beach Boys and the Band; full throttle drums irreverently confuse country and rock. Their style can be reminiscent of Steve Earle, Elvis Costello, the Pogues and Pink Floyd, all within a single song. With influences ranging from Merle Haggard to the Flaming Lips, their sound undeniably borrows from the classics, draws from their contemporaries, and crosses many borders - yet remains distinctively their own. Their new CD, All the Great Aviators Agree, is available now. More up-tempo, experimental and band-oriented than their singer/songwriter debut, Legionnaires' Disease, this CD promises to be a substantial benchmark in the evolving work of Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags.

-SCOTLAND BARR and the SLOW DRAGS

Style: Americana / Alt. Country / Folk Rock / Psychedelic
From: Portland, OR, USA

Discography:

Legionnaires' Disease, released September 2005
All The Great Aviators Agree, released May 2008
We Will Be Forgotten, scheduled for release Early 2009

Press Kit

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Highlights:

Legionnaires' Disease produced by Rob Stroup at 8 Ball Studios, Portland, OR.
Guest appearances on Legionnaires' Disease: Derek Brown (The Eels), Rich Lander (Richmond Fontaine, Telephone, Floater), Skip VonKuske, Chris Robley (The Sort Of's), Rachel Taylor Brown, Marilee Hord, and Steve Wilkinson (Mission 5).

Picked up for national distribution by Burnside Distribution Corp.
Legionnaires' Disease debuted at #29 on the Roots Music Report radio airplay chart (the biggest indie radio chart in the world), reaching #17 for 5 straight weeks. The album shared the charts with such artists as Ray Lamontagne, John Hiatt, Rodney Crowell, Southern Culture on the Skids, Jackie Greene, and Alejandro Escovedo.

Regularly placed on the Euro-Americana Chart throughout 2006.
Regularly featured on KINK FM's Local Music Spotlight and hundreds of college/indie and podcast radio programs worldwide.

Played nearly 100 gigs in 2006 without tour backing.
Selected to participate in the nationally acclaimed DEEP ROOTS PROJECT, 2007.
National/international tour in support of All The Great Aviators Agree, spring 2008.