Joh Chase & Brittany Ann Tranbaugh with special guest TBA

Career trajectories are rarely linear or make logical sense. Life is always unpredictable so all you can do is put in good work and keep at it. Joh Chase is a testament to this. Over the past two decades, the Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based artist has persistently honed their songwriting and toured, opening for acts like Noah Gunderson and David Bazan. This dedication comes out entirely in their songs, which are so timeless, confident, and inviting they can only come from someone who’s devoted their whole life to their craft. Chase’s new album SOLO feels like a turning point for them: it’s the culmination of a lifetime of writing, losing, loving, and doing it all yourself. Out April 26 via Kill Rock Stars, the LP adventurously toes the line between genres and sensibilities but it’s all filtered through Chase’s charming and fully-formed vision.

Chase’s musical journey has been a winding but steady evolution. While they were raised Evangelical and originally wrote songs that grappled with leaving the church, Chase found revelations in introspective songwriting. “My brain is completely filled with the music I was raised on: Elton John, The Cranberries, Bonnie Raitt, and the Mamas and the Papas,” they say. “I will always think of my music through that template while trying to find a place for myself in the world and pushing the boundaries of that.” With that foundation, Chase’s songs are dynamic and alive. SOLO gleefully bounces from sizzling blues to bedroom-recorded folk, soaring pop, and intimate indie rock. No two tracks sound alike but they’re all connected by Chase’s patient and enduring vision.

The story of SOLO starts with the opener and single “Gone.” When Chase wrote that song during a writing session at their parent’s house in Washington state, they said it was a lightbulb moment in their craft. “Writing that was when I felt like there was new life and new energy in my songwriting,” says Chase. Listening to the track, it’s easy to see why. The song is electric, full of vitality, and simmering intensity. Over a propulsive guitar riff, they sing, “Your bed, make its covers, so they fall over every corner tight / And my body it left its mold where we laid and watched it all go down.” The instantly memorable song hits a hair-raising crescendo. After writing it, Chase used the track as a North Star for SOLO.

Though Chase has always thrived as a solo artist, part of their fuller sound comes from collaborating with bassist Marc Wolloch (Beck, AWOLNATION) and drummer Brendan McCusker (Jenny Lewis, Hellogoodbye). “I just showed them my guitar and voice demos and they just really found their own arrangements,” says Chase. “After playing just a couple of shows with them, I knew they had to make this record with me.” Chase enlisted recording engineer George Wiederkehr and mixing engineer Dan Molad (Lucius) in the studio. “If I could record a song live in a room with people, that’s my favorite way to do it,” says Chase. “While some of the songs on SOLO are just me, the ones that are full-band and recorded live. The communal energy makes the record.”

The lead single “Avalanche” exemplifies this dynamic and adventurous sound. By far the most explosive song on the LP, there’s a subtle twang in Chase’s voice as they sing, “Fever pitch of young love oriented all our stars / Found our bed in the spin of the earth and all its charge / Oh that love, that love, couldn’t see it coming, couldn’t see it coming.” Chase jokes that the song feels like blues meets Brandi Carlile. “This song is about the transformational power of love in that it’s not what you think it is all the time, they say. “I feel like it really represents my life. It’s very personal for sure.” SOLO boasts euphoric, sing-along-ready choruses and warm arrangements, all anchored by Chase’s inviting croon. Songs like “To Forget You” have a tangible vitality while “Savina,” a track that Chase originally wrote in 2008, boasts an obvious effortlessness.

Chase thrives on perceptive and emotionally resonant insight: they’re able to pinpoint a feeling with staggering clarity even on the lighter moments. Single “When I Got This Place” encapsulates this in an affecting and funny ode to love and heartbreak in Los Angeles. “The whole song really represents that I’ve had a lot of breakups in LA,” says Chase. “Every scene that’s in the song is a moment that’s happened in my life.” On the track, Chase sings, “Don’t need a lover in Los Angeles / everybody’s here for show biz.” It’s a clever line but it’s not a throwaway. At the end of the song, Chase sings “a bunch of dreamers trying to find some space” with the line showcasing how the personal can be universal.

SOLO is a testament to Chase’s do-it-yourself ethos throughout their entire career—they chipped away, self-funded tours, and crowdfunded this LP. But by finding their voice, they now no longer feel alone. “This is the most support I’ve ever had in my life,” says Chase. “I do not feel alone at all. There’s so much energy and generosity here around these songs.” Though it’s not their debut, SOLO feels like a reinvention for an artist: a daring reintroduction for a timeless talent. “I spent my life making music and trying to do it about 10 different ways,” says Chase. “Now this one feels like it. This album feels like a leveling-up of my music in general. When I look at it now, I realize this is the first record that’s really me.”

 

 

 

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh (pronounced TRAN-baw) is a Philadelphia-based songwriter whose queer Americana heartbreaker “Kiss You” won Song of the Year in the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Tranbaugh has been writing songs and playing shows as a side gig since she was a teenager, but in February 2023, at 31 years old, she finally quit her office job to pursue a full-time career in music. Her newest release is a self-titled EP produced by Grammy-winner Tyler Chester which showcases Tranbaugh in her new era: energetic, self-assured, surrounded by her beloved musical community, and more commanding as a vocalist and writer than ever before.

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