All The Real Girls - Elk City

As album origin stories go, Elk City has one of the more unusual ones.  Singer songwriter, actor, and indie movie director/producer Peter Donovan was in a bar in California, having finished work on the movie Lost On Purpose when he met a chainsmoking woman in her '70s.  Many drinks and many smokes later Peter had an album worth of fantastic stories inspired by the woman's (likely embellished) tales of multiple generations of her extended family in Oklahoma.  Peter the thirsty actor heard the stories, and Peter the writer translated them to song soon thereafter.  And luckily for music fans, Peter also is the frontman for Seattle's All The Real Girls, a band with few actual girls (although on talent alone Shelby Earl should be counted multiple times), but in addition to Donovan and Earl includes Jason McGerr (Death Cab For Cutie), Jim Roth (Built To Spill), Erik Corson (The Long Winters), Steve Fisk (Pell Mell), Erik Howk (The Lashes).  Replete with the sort of Americana instrumentation the stories deserve, and the indie guitar work we crave, Elk City delivers on multiple levels: Great stories; rock guitar shredding; pastoral twang; and top quality performances.  Test drive Elk City with "Lizzie", a tale of loss and regret, and the title track, about the wake on the passing of a loved one.  Other highlights in my opinion include "Massacre At The Mystic", "That King Of The Night", "Three Piece Suit", but all twelve songs truly are gems.  This is the sort of album you discover and play obsessively on your own, and then feel guilty you haven't told all your friends so they can enjoy it too.

Elk City is out now as a digital download.  Check your favorite online retailer.



"Elk City" Music Video - All The Real Girls from All The Real Girls on Vimeo.


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