june madrona

(olympia, wa)
Songs written simply and honestly, performed acoustically. Based upon the guitar and words of Ross Cowman, the varied content and carefully constructed stories of the songs may make you want to dance, cry, sing, think, or just listen as deeply as one can.

Battlegrounds

"This, the fourth album from Olympians (the place, not the esteemed athletes) June Madrona is as articulate and atmospheric a record as you will hear this year. Led by the prolific and poetic Ross Cowman, the folksy three-piece is completed by classically trained Micah Ellison on melodica and Danielle Chiero on flute. The unique instrumentation lends these wistful, perceptive meditations on love, loss and youth a sense of otherworldliness; the tangible presence of those worries that nag at the back of your mind; the shapes you catch moving at the corner of your eye; the secret aches that burn the heart and sting the eye...
Rock Louder - London - 10/07

A Long and Ugly Road

With bands such as Viva Voce or Gossip and record labels like K or Kill Rock Stars, Portland (sic. we are from olympia!) is still the undisputed world capital for that certain kind of lo-fi, laid back, well read, busted up but delicious pop. Recorded in a backyard yurt, this first album by June Madrona is fairly typical of Portland, a town built in the country where the boundary between urban and rural are perhaps more vague than elsewhere. Because even though June Madrona's music is resolutely acoustic and pastoral, the tension is never far behind, especially when it comes to the moving lyrics that bring the young American still a little closer to his obvious compadre Sufjan Stevens. This road might be long and ugly but what a view point, what a trip!
Les Inrockuptibles N°608 24 Juillet 2007