By | Teri Briggs

Portland’s Playlist’s, Luke and Teri, welcomed a trio of talented ladies into the studio at Portland Radio Project Wednesday night. Katie Sawicki, Zanny Geffel, and Rebekah Hanson are the beauty and the brains behind, The Cabin Project. The beauty is the magic that happens when their three voices collide into one melodious symphony that needs to be heard to fully appreciate. The brains is the music their fingertips make with their respective instruments; Zanny on drums, Katie on guitar, and Rebekah, viola. Combining all that with Katie’s lyrics gives you a band with a much bigger sound than its three members.

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Photo by Teri Briggs

The Cabin Project is an orchestral indie pop band whose sound stems from anthemic choruses, three-part… harmonies, octave pedals, and string sections. The songs are musically expansive, yet retain an intimacy similar to that of The National, Bon Iver, Feist, and Warpaint. Their influences range from classical to indie, and rock, from their childhood to the present, with the likes of Phillip Glass, No Doubt, CCR, Ani DiFranco, Beirut, The National, Warpaint, Wayne Shorter, My Silver Lining, and Bowie’s, “Under Pressure.”

The band has spent the past couple of months recording a new album, “Unfolded,” and hope for a Spring release. This is their first album since Rebekah joined the band, and it sounds fabulous! You can get a sneak peek by listening to a couple of singles from the album at their bandcamp link, https://cabinproject.bandcamp.com/.

They were recently named one of the Top 5 Emerging Portland acts from The Deli Magazine, https://portland.thedelimagazine.com/23854/portland-best-2015-readers-poll-results-are; their music is featured on ABC’s, The Fosters, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQcR8eUckAw; and Katie was one of the artists for The Acoustic Guitar Project, https://theacousticguitarproject.com/project/portland/katie-sawicki-the-cabin.

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Photo by Teri Briggs

The Cabin Project came about because Katie, having started as a solo songwriter, arrived in Portland, feeling lonely, and wanting to collaborate with others. She met Zanny, started a recording project, and those first songs became an album, which then became a band. They met Rebekah while recording Heliotrope, and she joined after its completion. Katie was always a singer and sang in choir during high school. She added the guitar upon discovering that it was perfect for her angsty, political, high school self. Zanny spent 10 years as a tap dancer and piano player before picking up the drums at the age of 10. She has played drums for just about every musical style and is always searching for ways to change it up so she doesn’t get bored. Rebekah’s earliest musical memory is at the age of three when she wanted to play the violin after seeing a friend play one. She begged her parents, and at age six, started playing by way of the Suzuki method. One of her favorite things to do when songwriting is to find ways to integrate classical music into a piece.

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Photo by Teri Briggs

One fine example of this is in the song, “November, I Miss You,” off the new album. They performed this song live as well as “Fingerprints,” a song Katie wrote about the breakup of a relationship. Getting to hear them in the small studio space really was a treat because their voices just carry through, circle the room, and go right through you, leaving you wanting so much more.

They are going on a mini-NW tour soon, but will be back in Portland for a show on April 1st at Alberta Street Pub, https://www.albertastreetpub.com/music/2016/4/1/the-cabin-project. We highly suggest putting this one on your calendar because this is a band and a show you do not want to miss!

You can find The Cabin Project at:

https://soundcloud.com/thecabinproject

https://www.thecabinproject.com/

https://cabinproject.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thecabinproject

 

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