Greater Pacific began when Kyle Kersten and John Phinney, members of Travel By Sea, decided to take their love of pedal steel and country folk into a new realm. On the Rainfall EP, out 1/25 as a six-track, digital release on Yer Bird Records, the pair are joined by fellow Travel By Sea member Mike Cusick on drums, as well as L.A. favorite Angela Correa. The result is a gentle, rolling cascade of expansive, haunting songs that draw us to those places of quiet solitude that mark a Winter’s night, a walk in the Spring rain, or where we go inside when no one else is looking.
Here’s how the folks at Yer Bird describe the sound of Rainfall:
From the ocean to the desert and the mountains, the sound of Southern California’s Greater Pacific floats alongside the early morning light across open fields and hills of green to a lonely back country road. The pining sound of pedal steel and the signature timbre of Kyle Kersten’s voice are the essence of the band’s sound. With the additional production of John Phinney, Greater Pacific includes plenty of what could be possible unexpected instrumentation that builds into peaks and subsides into soundscapes.
Rainfall is, in fact, the least pretentious debut EP that I have listened to in a long while. The songs are majestic, and they require no trickery to captivate the listener. These songs are the sound of every campfire you’ve ever wanted to sit at… they are the sound of every cherished, faintly sad, but still hopeful memory you have. In a word, then, they are beautiful songs, and you should hear them.
Here’s “Distance:”
[audio:https://www.shh-listen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/04-Distance.mp3|titles=04 Distance] Download
Or, if you prefer your “Distance” in video form:
Greater Pacific, Distance (2011) from Henkydory on Vimeo.
If you like what you hear, then head over to Yer Bird to order the record. You can also visit Greater Pacific on Yer Bird, Facebook, and Myspace.