"Westerly has Sequim connection"
Sequim Gazette
By Matthew Nash, April 8, 2009
http://www.sequimgazette.com/topstory/articleDetail.exm/Index/article/2009-04-08_Westerly_has_Sequim_connection/

Sequim seems to spawn musical talent. Another local musical act on the rise, Westerly, an alternative rock and country band, features Kory Nagler, a 2002 Sequim High School graduate, on guitar, keys and vocals. Westerly released its second album, "This Lonesome Town," on March 31 via Web site www.westerlymusic.com, and on iTunes, Rhapsody and CDBaby.com.

The band was scheduled to play at The Bushwhacker Restaurant in Port Angeles as part of a CD release tour. They have been getting buzz in the Midwest for about a year and radio play in Texas. Now they are booking a tour in that area to promote the CD.

"This Lonesome Town" was recorded on 2-inch tape, the method used prior to digital recording, because band members wanted to go for a rustic sound using vintage equipment. It was a year-long recording process. "I'm so happy with it," Nagler said. "It sounds a lot like the bands that influenced it."

The band draws inspiration from 1960s and 1970s musicians including Bob Dylan, the Band, Tom Petty, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield while connecting with modern alternative-country acts such as Ryan Adams, Wilco, the Drive-by Truckers and the Jayhawks. Their 13-track album has all original material except for a cover of The Rolling Stone's "Wild Horses." Westerly mixes genres because the band members believe country music is a compilation of different sounds. Nagler, who wrote and sings the title track "This Lonesome Town," was born and raised in Sequim. He graduated from Sequim High School and Peninsula College before moving to Chicago.

Nagler recalls his first musical performance was as a middle-schooler in the Sequim High School talent show. He sneaked into the competition and played "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. Nagler didn't place, but he did receive a lot of positive comments, he said. In Chicago, Nagler started a rock band called The Argus. He later attended the University of Washington and began playing with Westerly.
Band members are Joshua Schramm, vocals; Bob Hyde, bass; Andrew Squire, drums; and Nagler.

Westerly has performed with Brandi Carlile, Jackie Greene, Pat Monahan (Train), the Damnwells, Sister Hazel, and Christy McWilson in and around Seattle.

"We're putting our all into it," Nagler said about Westerly's musical efforts. Nagler will begin recording a solo album in the coming months.
Check Westerly's Web site and MySpace for updates.


"This Lonesome Town" CD Review
Seattle Sound Magazine
By Kim Ruehl, March 2009

4 stars

It’s not country music, exactly. But, if you ask Westerly bassist Bob Hyde, he will tell you that country music is, categorically, as broad a word as “rock” these days. Artists playing on country radio run the gamut from sounds-like-teeny-bopper-pop to sounds-like-classic-hard-rock. When Westerly went to Nashville to plan their new record, This Lonesome Town, they came to understand why country music has become such a patchwork phenomenon, flung so far from the music of Hank, Johnny, Roy and Merle. Stroll down Music Row, and you’ll find dive after dive full of cover-tune-slinging singer-songwriters. But, wander into the Wildhorse Saloon before show time, and you’ll hear a classic Tom Petty track from the stereo alongside the latest from Death Cab and an obscure selection from Bettye LaVette’s first record. While Westerly can’t separate from the country label (their band name itself doesn’t exactly sound rock and roll), their music pulls together as many disparate influences as does Music City.

It’s a critic’s habit to compare new artists to old, but there’s no carefully whittled pigeonhole into which a band like Westerly can burrow. It would be more appropriate to liken them to the CD collection of a Nashville dive bar, or a genre-bending tune like the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.” Conveniently, they deliver a terrific rendition of that classic Stones tune towards the end of This Lonesome Town. Joshua Schramm’s vocals sound more Don Henley than Mick Jagger, though. Kory Nagler’s piano and Kevin Suggs’ pedal steel are all the song really needs. It’s a stripped-down cover made sweeter by the natural intuitive blend of Schramm’s lead vocals with Nagler’s distant falsetto.

The disc is aptly titled, though, as there’s hardly a heart-warming tune in the bunch. This is a lonely record. Even the catchy sweetness of “Memphis” can’t distract from the fact that the song is about falling in love with someone who lives thousands of miles away. “Slow Train” is so sad there’s no option but to end it with some CSN&Y-like caterwauling. By the time Nagler gets to the vaguely Pink Floyd-esque “Before You Came,” your cold and lonesome heart is ready to embrace the melodrama of lines like “Freezing rain or scorching heat / your city wants me dead.” Here, Nagler’s voice is almost as scratchy as Hyde’s fuzz bass. Schramm’s watery guitar is broken by the dissonant, scratching high-pitched cords. Next to the tongue-in-cheek drunken babble lyrics of “Third Wheel” (and that song’s sheer rockability), this is the finest moment on the disc. Whether or not it’ll ever make sense on country radio is up to the DJs. Whatever it is, it’s good.


SeattleNoise: Westerly
Seattle PI
By MIKEL TOOMBS, Sunday August 17, 2008
Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/385644_postcard31.html

WHAT: Westerly won a KMTT-FM listeners' contest for the opening slot at last summer's Mountain Music Festival. With strong songwriting and a twangy performance, the band -- singer-songwriter Josh Schramm, bassist Bob Hyde, drummer Andrew Squire and guitarist-singer Kory Nagler -- showed up some veteran performers on the Marymoor Park bill.

ORIGINS: "We mainly came to Seattle for school and jobs. Plus, I didn't mind leaving the heat of Sacramento summers behind," says Schramm, who grew up in Alaska. "Andrew and Bob were friends in high school in Albuquerque, N.M. ... Kory is from Sequim so he didn't have to come far, and in fact he is back in Sequim right now commuting out for shows and practice."

BY ANY OTHER NAME: Westerly originally was known as Radio Affliction. "I know, I know, bad name. 'Radio Affliction' was a song I wrote in 1998 about the idea of being infected by the overly simplified stories in mainstream pop songs on the radio," Schramm says. "Originally I wanted it to be Western Avenue, because that's the street I worked on at the time."

INFLUENCES: "The band draws influences from bands of the '60s and '70s. Artists such as Bob Dylan, the Band, Tom Petty, the Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield," according to the band's sites, myspace.com/westerlyseattle and westerlymusic.com. "At the same time, connections can be drawn to modern alt-country acts like Ryan Adams, Wilco, the Drive-by Truckers and the Jayhawks."

RELEASES: "Rodeo," Westerly's first full-length CD, was issued last year by Sacramento's You Alive Records. The band just recorded 13 songs for a follow-up: "We're going all out this time," Schramm says, "recording analog on 2-inch tape and using a variety of vintage instruments and microphones."

NEXT SHOW: 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., with Zoe Muth and Ryan Purcell. Tickets: $6, 21-plus and up. Information: tractortavern.com

Local Roots Artists Rock Mountain Fest
Seattle Sound Magazine
By Kim Ruehl Sunday, August 17th, 2008

It may have been the hottest day of the year for sitting in a field, watching live music, but everything kicked off swimmingly at the Mountain Music Festival Saturday at Marymoor. Local alt-country quartet Westerly swung the showcase into motion at 4pm. The band had been voted into the lineup by Mountain listeners, after singer-songwriter Landon Pigg pulled out of the festival to appear in a movie.

Fronted by guitarists Josh Schramm and Kory Nagler, Westerly played a 40-minute set that delighted the numerous listeners who voted them into the slot. The harmonies were tight, the rhythm section nailed it down hard. The band’s live energy has increased considerably, even since Sound caught them at Folklife back in May. Admitting that playing the Moutain Music Festival was a highlight of their career thus far, Westerly rocked hard enough to ensure it’s only the beginning.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.seattlesoundmag.com/2008/08/local-roots-artists-rock-mountain-music-festival/


Mountain Music Fest Review
Seattle PI
By MIKEL TOOMBS, Sunday August 17, 2008

Seattle's Westerly, voted onto the lineup by listeners, opened the six-hour concert with a strong set of twangy originals. Declaring this "the biggest day of our career," the band impressed with Jayhawks-quality harmonies on songs both laid-back (the moseying "Wild, Wild Wind") and spirited.

Read the rest of the review at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/375341_brandi18q.html?source=rss