Willamette Week Show Preview: The James Low Western Front Saturday, Feb. 25

"James Low has his proverbial shit together. After years without inspiration—his 2009 The Blackguard’s Waltz EP was the first release since what Low calls an “awful” 2004 live album—the longtime Portland singer-songwriter has a new band, a fiancée, plans to quit his day job and tour Europe, and a new album out with another on the horizon. The future looks so bright, in fact, that Low can hardly focus on his excellent new disc, Whiskey Farmer, which he refers to as “the country record.” “The pop record” is on his mind." Read the rest here at Willamette Week.

THE JAMES LOW WESTERN FRONT'S 'WHISKEY FARMER' OUT TODAY--OREGON MUSIC NEWS CALLS IT A 'MUST-HAVE

"This album is a must-have for anyone who says they “don’t listen to country” yet has a stash of good ol’ Western in their collection. It’s also recommended for fans of soulful singer/songwriters like Amos Lee, or High Desert/Mesa rock similar to The Refreshments or Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. It may be best played through the dash of an old pickup truck or through a dusty jukebox, if you’ve got one handy. Mixed with a healthy dose of sunshine for the former or an adult beverage for the latter." Read the full review on Oregon Music News here.

James Low Chats With Listen, Dammit.

"If your heart needs breaking — and if you’re a certain kind of music fan, you know it does — then James Low Western Front is the band to do it. The group’s new album, “Whiskey Farmer,” is a beautifully downbeat collection of songs about a character who’s always done the right things and is disillusioned by how little he has to show for it. They’re rootsy, country-inflected songs, some of which had been knocking around for a while when Low realized that there was a narrative arc to songs he never quite knew what to do with." Read on for the full article here.

NEW VIDEO FROM THE JAMES LOW WESTERN FRONT; BAND RELEASES "WHISKEY FARMER" THIS FEBRUARY ON UNION MADE RECORDS

"The James Low Western Front’s new full-length, Whiskey Farmer, expertly and effortlessly delivers just that. The band may come from the lush climes of Portland, Oregon, but theirs is a sound that was born in towns like Nashville, Tennessee and Bakersfield, California. It shuffles, grooves, and sweats with the best of them, begging to be played through the in dash stereo of a pickup truck.
It's with that mood and setting in mind that Low wrote and the band (Tim Huggins, bass/vocals; Dave Camp, guitar/vocals; Joe Mengis, drums) arranged the album’s tracks.
The eight-song collection focuses on the plight of the titular character (portrayed on the front cover of the album by Low himself), someone that has, according to Low, "always done things kind of right- did OK in school, went to a generic college, racked up a shitload of debt, and got a job to pay off the debt. He drinks to forget. He alienates the ones who love him best, and just cannot believe that this is all there is to life." Watch the video here.