The Slightest Bits

Chibia Ulinwa makes it look easy. If her fleet-footed, jazz-inflected manifestos on the human heart aren’t enough to knock you flat against your desk chair, try doing that in between gigs as a public school orchestra director and brand illustrator. Driven by the contrast of her silken vocals and lacerating violin, Chibia led her band through effortless selections from her latest EP, “So This Is Love, Vol. 1.” Mixing & Production: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek Recorded live at DB Nation Studios on June 23, 2024.

How long does it take to become an institution? It took the Greeks nearly 10 years to build the Parthenon, and even then, it wasn’t an actual house of worship for centuries. And how many people did it take to build it? “Too many,” the Franco brothers might answer.  In just four long, heat-wave-ridden summers, the Francos, “Professional Entertainer” Johnny & His Real Brother Dom have built an institution of tear-spilling and ass-shaking in a western corner of the inimitable Laurelhurst Park. Despite its two-man inception, the Curbside Serenade has blossomed into a multi-stage interactive variety show, replete with singing dogs, comedians, and a gaggle of regulars and new-comers who fill the park to the brim every Thursday.  On June 20th, Stumpgrown was honored to join the parade for an afternoon session and Q&A––the first Curbside Serenade of its kind. Watch as we try to corral the magic (also a Curbside first) for your at-home viewing pleasure.  Mixing & Production: Nick Meigs Sound Engineering: Max Simon & Noah Penwell Hosting, Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek Copywriting: Max Simon Recorded live at Laurelhurst Park on June 20, 2024.

If you’re around Portland, you know Jakki. For years, Jakki Wise played ringleader for a stray circus of Portland musicians, showcasing the finest players in an ever-rotating cast—cheekily dubbed the Pink Smudge. These days, the Smudge is a stable, whimsical, and polished force, consisting of Charlie (drums), Caleb (guitar, production), and Oliver (bass). Twinkly rhythms, toe-tapping grooves, and Jakki’s whispy vocals bring bedroom pop sensibilities to center stage. Their infectiously playful performances are sure to wiggle into your head and your dancing feet. Recorded live outside Stumpgrown’s favorite bar and record store, watch this family affair throw down, one smudged microphone at a time. Mixing & Production: Nick Meigs Sound Engineering: Max Simon & Noah Penwell Hosting, Direction, & Copywriting: Caroline Drew Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek Recorded live outside Mississippi Records on May 21, 2024.

Some moments can last forever if you want them to. If catching burgeoning expat Kendall Lujan with her fabulous live ensemble is what came to mind, you’re in luck: filmed at the esteemed Mississippi Records shop in sunny Portland, OR, Kendall weaves melodies and stories through the musical throng like a drunk turning their fall into a pirouette. Largely plucked from her forthcoming release, Lucky Penny, these songs resonate in both their immediacy and timelessness. This Stumpgrown episode brims with old friends, neighborhood staples, and susceptible strangers, and now, we’re glad you get to be a part of this dream too. Mixing & Production: Nick Meigs Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek Recorded live at Mississippi Records on April 28, 2024.

Like skinned kneecaps in the springtime sun, Amos Heart songs wear their bruises with pride. Dealing in whistles, whispers, shouts, & stutters, Heart’s joyous and empathetic songwriting invokes hard-earned and well-told stories full of wistful longing and playful anecdotes. These tales fall in the same narrative universe as Amos Heart’s full-band project, Johnny’s Day Out, pairing lighthearted sonic surprises with memorable melodies. As a solo artist, Heart hones in on big feelings told through simple moments. Accompanied by singer, songwriter, & occasional xylophonist Kendall Lujan, this Stumpgrown is our most intimate and heartwarming session to date. Mixing & Production: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek Recorded live at dB Nation Studios on March 17, 2024.

Salmon Doza’s bittersweet stories are like the dusk’s chill at the end of a sun-stoned spring day. Brisk poetry, pockmarked by winter’s cruel grasp, besets warm cascades of interweaving harmonies and shit-eating grins. Equal parts power-pop, math-rock, and good ‘ol classic PNW acoustic bummer-jams, bandleader Sam Mendoza leads this current iteration of Salmon Doza — Patrick (drums, vocals), Aidan (bass), and Case (guitar) — through his back catalog for revitalized takes on these well-loved and worn-in songs. Tune in, kick back, and call your friends after. Hosting/Direction: Caroline Drew Production/Mixing: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering: Max Simon Videography: Maggie Zaleski Photography: Alahn Ek

Rhododendron makes post-apocalyptic campfire music for woodland giants scavenging the scorched remains of Earth. Propelled by Noah Mortola and Gage Walker's algebraically churning rhythm section, Ezra Chong's guitar slip slides between arpeggios that sparkle like gasoline rainbows and riffs that bludgeon their way through ancient Northwestern forests. Armed with three gargantuan new tracks, watch as Rhododendron threatens to obliterate the dB Nation studio once and for all.  Mixing & Production: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Joaquin Trujillo Photography: Alahn Ek Recorded live at dB Nation Studios on January 21, 2024.

Don’t mistake their humor as an antic; the Slightest Bits are dead serious. Drawing from the well of back-of-the-record-bin queercore punk, the Slightest Bits infuse their yearning, longing, and resilience with subversive one-liners that’ll make you grab your stomach laughing. Featuring the trio of Lorne Jensen, Travis Goetz, and Violet Veselka, watch as the Slightest Bits crack up dB Nation in one our most impassioned sets to date. Mixing & Production: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Joaquin Trujillo Photography: Alahn Ek

Dogs roam through unlit neighborhoods, the stems of tallgrass snap in the prairie wind, a piece of driftwood rots on the lakeshore. These are Swinging songs—still lives from a midwestern-gothic where darkness undercuts any transcendence. Led by singer-songwriter/guitarist Ash Vale, these scenes are buoyed by the crystalline trio of pedal steel (Nick), impressionistic lead guitar (Jakob), and Wurlitzer (Danny). Meanwhile, Jasper and Caleb (drums and bass, respectively) maintain a heartbeat that often slips into a murmur. The effect is less of a band than of a midnight choir on a still, unanswered night. If the world were a just place, most bands would sound like Swinging, and more bars would feel like the Rose City Book Pub. In lieu of that impossibility, we've preserved a slice of magic from a bitterly cold night in late December. Watch as friends and Stumpgrown alumni bask in Swinging's lilting alchemy and ask questions in our first ever live session. We wish you had been there, but we made sure to film it for you anyways. Mixing & Production: Noah Penwell Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Direction: Caroline Drew Videography: Joaquin Trujillo Photography: Alahn Ek

Before Ogre plays a note, their amplifiers hiss like digital snakes waiting to strike. Ogre is Ace (bass), Grace (bass), and Nils (drums). We could tell you that Ogre uses two basses, three vocal mics, a synthesizer, a few duffel bags worth of guitar pedals, and a drum kit, but that would do their aural onslaught a disservice. Ogre is more than the sum of their decimated parts. Ogre is waiting to strike. Recorded October 16th, 2023 at dB Nation studios in SE Portland, we talk about the group’s incidents, influences, iterations, and incantations. Hear more of the band here: ogrebyogre.org Production Credits Mixing & Recording: Noah PenwelL Sound Engineering & Copywriting: Max Simon Hosting & Promotion: Caroline Drew Video by: Joaquin Trujillo @joaquintrujillofilm Photos by: Alahn Ek @lahnnystar