For a pdf copy of our EPK please email us at whisperingpinesmusic@gmail.com

August 19th, 2010  by Jeff Vincent/DirtyHippieRadio.com

What happens when you mix the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Band, craft beer, the wind passing messages along prickly branches of trees throughout the generations, and Redondo Beach?  You get Whispering Pines performing at SoCal Suds Beer Fest this Saturday August 21, 5-8PM at Aviation Park.
A Moment of Veneration on behalf of Redondo Beach: Unbelievable!  Upward of 50 craft breweries, unlimited fills, unreal live music, unfolding into one event – just unreal (I mean, are we in Anderson Valley or something?).
Even though the words/lyrics “beer drinkers and hell raisers” come to mind when I think of a southern-esque band performing a radical beer festival like this, I am placated by the depth of Whispering Pines’ music and song.  Their talent and sincerity is no match for the traditional veneer of debauched, pretentious entertainment that so often accompanies such festivity.  I mean to say they’re serious about producing, and performing, good music (no beer-guzzling, background novelty show at this event).  Additional kudos to Redondo Beach on that note!
Whispering Pines seems to be cut from the same cloth as that breed of enigmatic musical characters that is the tough guy-teddy bear, drunkard-romantic, outlaw-sheriff.  The Allmans Brothers had their black hearted women and dreams. Skynyrd had their bullets and Tuesday mornings. The Band had their, well – chest fevers and weights I suppose. At any rate, the point is, Whispering Pines will rock and jam your soul out of its rusty carcass, but might just as well perpetuate the oxidation with some tear-jerking ballads.
All comparisons aside; they’re clearly talented, youthful, real deal, and I dare say badass. Their first full length album “Family Tree” has hit the shelves and it’s refreshingly good. In fact, it’s excellent! I always reserve a critical ear for a band’s approach to how they open and close an album; my mental composition book took shrewd note of how effective and classy this “Family Tree” begins and ends.  And in between, a flowing selection of delicious fruits.  At about 7 and 1/2 minutes, Stars Above is a standout track of perfection – a wistful, slow, jamming trek of longing and beauty – unfolding guitar and slide solos underneath the eternal starry sky.
“A million stars shine above me now. Are they the same ones you see? If one should lead me back to you, would you still care for me? (Stars Above, Whispering Pines).”
I could overfill your mug with accolades for “Family Tree”, a truly fine album, but Whispering Pines have the chance to speak for themselves this weekend as they look enthusiastically forward to help the beer boogie down to your bloated belly.
“…a beer festival in Redondo Beach? [We're] stoked!” says guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist Dave Baine. “We expect the show to be like getting barreled in waves of barley and hops…"
I ain’t sure what all that country talk’s about; but however it goes down, there’ll be slide guitar to get your head reeling while the harmonica gets your head shaking, while the sweet nectar of the beer Gods gets your head spinning.  Is there a better Saturday planned for August?  This reporter thinks perhaps not.
“Standing by the well, wishing for the rains; Reaching to the clouds, for nothing else  remains; Drifting in a daze, when evening will be done; Try looking through a haze…(Whispering Pines, by The Band, 1969).”  One can only speculate that The Band’s wistful track “Whispering Pines” was an uncannily premonitory projection of a Beer Festival that would take place 41 years later (in Redondo Beach) with a live performance from a band by the same name as their foretelling track:

Somehow the heart and soul of the South pour out of Los Angeles’s Whispering Pines on their debut release.  Named after the song by the Band, Whispering Pines incorporate the sounds of the aforementioned with the Allman Brothers.  This isn’t some mere Southern rock bar band, though.  These guys vary their dynamics and give their songs a great amount of dimension.  The bassline (Brian Filosa) is given dual billing with the rest of the instruments; that is, the bass’s levels are equivalent to the lead instruments instead of shoving it in the background.  The jamming sections are very intellectual and actually lead to somewhere, rather than hovering around a particular jam segment for a long time. Recorded in the late Elliott Smith’s studio using a 1970s Trident A Range console (only 13 are in existence), the album was recorded completely analog.  The album is set up for vinyl release, so songs are divided into “side a” and “side b”.  Check out the title track for an impeccable conjuring of Levon Helm’s songwriting and vocals.  These guys have the ability to do what they want: “Add to their collective body of music with reverence and vision”.  Well done, sirs.  by Sarah Moore, April 28, 2010

"Whispering Pines' fine, self-released debut, Family Tree...is definitely in the Cosmic Americana camp: deriving {thier} name from Manuel's fragile beauty; covering the likes of J.J. Cale ("Crazy Mama"); spinning as far out as Les Brers and their San Franciscan soul mates from the Grateful Dead on "Stars Above" and the rollicking boogie of "Grapevine Blues." The band displays clear affection for Scott Boyer's lost, lamented Capricorn label gem, Cowboy. The long-haired and denim-clad quintet...abide and create in a vastly different space than Music Row or the plains and Rust Belt enclaves of Midwestern alt-country. This is reflected in the sunny clarity of their sound and sometimes mellower lyrical concerns. Whispering Pines are part of a loose, freewheeling confederacy of young SoCal-based artists...reaching back to twang's glorious,pioneering fusions to fetch sounds for envisioning the near-future!" excerpts from San Francisco Bay Guardian feature article "In the Whispering Pines" by Kandia Crazy Horse, February 2010

Los Angeles based, denim clad rock n rollers Whispering Pines put together a nice mix of roots rock on their album Family Tree. More ragged than fellow LA country rockers Beachwood Sparks, much less refined than Andy Cabic's Vetiver. Two thumbs up!

Perhaps overlooked due to lack of label support or Hollywood family connections, Whispering Pines album Family Tree is a major leap forward in the not so well known country rock scene of Los Angeles. The short lived backing band of Laurel Canyon producer Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Chris Robinson) bring their all to the table on this ambitious, self produced  debut. "This Town" spends it's four-minute span weaving aching vocal melody with soft hearted rhythms and weeping slide guitar, while "Songbird" melds a deep pocket beat, mandolin and a lovelorn lyric into a thing of devastating melancholy. Elsewhere harmonica screams, drums swing and vocal harmonies trill arrestingly. The sound of a band throwing off the shackles of influence can rarely have been so sublime.

"Does your groovy-deep-roots-boogie band accidentally share a name with a song by 'The Band'? Do you just happen to channel some serious J.J. Cale-Tony Joe White-Allman Bros. back porch soul? No? You must not be the Whispering Pines, who are fabulous, authentic, and notorious local boys made good who OWN this sound. Not easily or convincingly done, mind you. Muscle Shoals in Silverlake, brother. I'll tell you, the river runs deep."  Amoeba Music, Hollywood  January 2010

HEY LABELS!
We all want rock to advance and go through new roads, but when we find a band that the only road that wants to go through is Route 66, ah, how does one hide the pleasure. The five long haired, bearded guys in Whispering Pines are as much Californian as anachronistic: to start, they take their name from the awesome first record that The Band
released in 1969, and from there, a little jump to take influences from country rock, Allman Brothers, Creedence, southern rock, the Stones that used to get high with Gram Parsons, the folky side of Led Zeppelin and more classic stuff with blues roots. The ones that are searching for strange new sounds, search somewhere else: what we've got here is booze, guitars, and that spirit of an era that Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous reflected so well. Because some people still believe in rock n' roll, right labels?    by Diego M., Critica, Venesuela

"Fan-tas-tic! I admit, I'm in a contemplative mood that puts me back to the seventies. The perfect companion while the Whispering Pines, a long-haired, dressed in denim quintet from Silver Lake, California. And yes, they named themselves after the song by The Band. Their eponymous 2010 debut CD "Family Tree", I said it and say it again, fantastic. If you like good old country rock and southern rock, then you need look no further. Whispering Pines put down a very credible sound which is somewhere between the Rolling Stones with Mick Taylor on slide guitar, the sound of Muscle Shouls-Lynyrd Skynyrd, the swamp rock of CCR and Tony Joe White, the dual guitar sound from The Outlaws and especially in particularly the electrical bottleneck slide of Duane Allman! It's all very retro what these boys do in nine country boogie-blues songs, it thunders and such wonderful music fair it yields. Excellent songs, rattling piano, Hammond rolling and screaming twin harmony guitars. Whispering Pines are the true successors of those genius Allman Brothers! Just listen to the wide open seven minutes flared in Stars Above, a guitar solo release as an eagle soaring in the vast sky! That is the feeling I get when I listen to the Whispering Pines. Family Tree is the first great record of 2010!"
........by Wiebren Rijkeboer | altcountry.nl | The Netherlands

An exceptional lesson in songwriting not heard from an American band in a long while...

 Hold on to your hats or your bootstraps or something. We’ll be having an interruption of regular blogging service and particularly SXSW coverage to bring you two days of Band/Dead/Stones inspired hippie rock. First up is Whispering Pines. And it’s not like you haven’t heard it before. But you can always expand the genre. And in this case this LA based band adds boozy blues harmonica, Muscle Shoals soul, and West coast stoner rock to their take on Band-era rock `n’ roll. You could probably get close to the same experience from slapping on Big Pink. But I like these guys and this debut record is a keeper.

Music that goes back to the pure country rock tradition from it's early days, of course, why not coincidentally named it after an old song by The Band, which they sometimes do  recall, but also southern rock bands like the early Allman Brothers,  Creedence or even Tony Joe White swamp sounds. Buffalo Springfield, Eagles, Byrds, Little Feat, it's all  here as you listen to this class debut! Moreover, Whispering Pines are a perfect California hippie group from that era, who just seemed to belong. After this introduction, one might think that this is a mishmash of styles with a strong retro stamp, and that's it in a sense a bit, but this sounds so good that you have no other choice than plenty to enjoy, because these guys bring quality and class. As a major Southern fan this album is entirely perfect for me. Whispering Pines  aware that the nostalgic tour rises even further, when they give you  beautiful (retro style) cover art, and the back containing the song titles is nicely divided into A and B side, as if it were an LP. The album was also recorded analog and should soon appear on vinyl. All songs are self made, except the cover of Crazy Mama, the JJ Cale compositions that they give a little rougher, blues  treatment  which sounds like Duane Allman's slide has come out to play. Lovely song, and those who know me know that I to go for the ax. Needless to say we have enjoyed to the fullest Whispering Pines debut. So you see, it does not need to innovative or be groundbreaking to make us happy. To make that perfect sound, a blend of  nostalgic Americana, blues and rock and roll is more than sufficient!

What ever happened to the days when surfers were artists, musicians, counter-culturalists? In music today, we've got Jack J. and Donovan F... but there is a fresh sound out there delivered by members of the LA surf community... support local music and the surfers who play it! Local Los Angeles band the Whispering Pines have released their debut album 'Family Tree.' It's available at Amoeba in Hollywood, McCabes in Santa Monica, and at at cdbaby.com.
The Whispering Pines are a rootsy rockin' 5-piece band (including Porto surfer "Willie" B.) who's sound derives from the lineage of such classics as the Allman Brothers Band, the Rolling Stones, the Buffalo Springfield, amongst others... the new record is a classic sound and their live show will make you a believer. Check'em out!

"It's rare these days for me to set foot in a rock club, but I'd heard so much about Los Angeles psych-cowboy rock band Spindrift that on my recent visit to LA I decided to have a listen. Lucky for me on this pleasant Southern California evening I arrived on time to catch the opening act Whispering Pines, perhaps named after the consummate Richard Manuel track off the second Band record. I was taken by surprise right from the start when they kicked off their set with what sounded to me like a missing track from Honky Tonk Heroes. A great mix of rock culture's pleasures - loud music, wreckless demeanor - and country's more precise discipline and tradition. Their poise and swagger was like that of a cross country touring band just back from 2 months on the road - effortless, awe-inspiring, and tight as nails. Song after song I was pleasantly surprised by their exceptional musical abilities from breezy west coast harmonies to blistering southern rock guitar licks, to hip shaking drum and bass grooves to blazing harp solos. A really nice blend of tunes with 4 out of the 5 members sharing vocal duties. The final kicker was a barn burning version of JJ Cale's classic tune Crazy Mama. If my eyes were shut I'd think I was at the Fillmore East listening to the Allman Brothers. These guys are definitely blazing their own trail, keeping roots rock alive and well, and leaving behind a cloud of desperado dust for those who dare to follow." 
-N. Taylor, February 2009

"I’m offering entrance to a world of roots music like you’ve never heard (at least not from bands located in Los Angeles). Thursday night, head over to Spaceland for a night of blues, psychedelic rock, and all around American folk music. Whispering Pines is a five piece from Los Angeles whose look and sound is SO Americana, I should probably add their info to the Americana wikipedia page after I finish writing this post. Expect beards, western shirts, long hair, and denim. Oh and good music too. Seriously. If you’re 21+ and have $8, you should be there. Think of it as a lesson in American music history, but cooler."  -boredla.com, 2009

“Sunday I was back in Echo Park …for the 2009 kickoff of the Grand Ole Echo alt-country/Americana/roots music concert series (complete with backyard barbecue). Opener, Whispering Pines… a tuneful, creative ensemble mining strains of country, folk, and rock music with very satisfying results. Adept and entertaining with their chiming/twanging/sliding guitars and hearty vocal harmonies. {the Pines}are descendants of Southern Cali forebears such as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco and the Eagles, with varying degrees of rock, roll, and rustic in their DNA. What a perfect way to spend an early spring twilight in the City of the Angels.”  - Mike the Knife, 2009

"Refreshing young band of friends from the city of angels with a throwback style circa 1970.  Featuring two members from NME pinups Good Time Women, this five piece plays an interesting blend of tunes worth hearing. Each writer has a unique style drawing back to early American blues, country, AM gold, and hints of 90's British pop.  Look for their album Family Tree due out early 2010."