Portugal. The Man will spotlight the prolific creative years prior to their mainstream breakthrough on a new live album, Oregon City Sessions. The album will arrive on streaming platforms on April 16th via Approaching AIRBalloons/Secretly Distribution with a vinyl and CD release scheduled to follow on June 11th.
When John Baldwin Gourley, Zachary Scott Carothers, Ryan Neighbors, and Garrett Lunceford recorded the Oregon City Sessions in December of 2008, Portugal. The Man had only existed for just over two years. Despite that still-brief tenure, the band had already released three full-length albums, one EP, and a pair of standalone singles while performing just shy of 500 live shows.
This young band from Alaska was nothing if not committed, foregoing time off at the end of a grueling tour in December of 2008 to hit the studio and capture what their live show had become. With longtime collaborator and filmmaker Graham (Baclagon) Agcaolli capturing some basic video footage and engineer/mixer Jacob Portrait behind the boards, Portugal. The Man performed a full live set in a Portland studio—one time through, with no re-takes or overdubs.
“The first few years of PTM were whirlwind,” says singer/guitarist John Gourley in a press release. “We didn’t have a place to live so we were pretty much either recording or touring. We were so wide-eyed coming out of Alaska that every day was an exciting new adventure. I think you can see it in our playing.”
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The band returned to the studio a few weeks later to record what would become 2009’s The Satanic Satanist, and the Oregon City Sessions audio and video were placed on the back burner. While the band would occasionally screen bits and pieces of the finished product for fans and friends, the “next thing” continued to take priority over “the old thing” for more than a decade as Portugal. The Man rose to global popularity.
Now that the band has been off the road for more than a year amid the ongoing pandemic, the time has come: Oregon City Sessions arrives from the archives, unchanged from the day it was completed, on April 16th. Pre-order/pre-save your copy here.
In anticipation of the full release, Portugal. The Man has shared the video of “The Devil” from Oregon City Sessions. Check out the video and a full track listing below.
Portugal. The Man – “The Devil” – 12/4/08 – Oregon City Sessions
[Video: Portugal. The Man]