The band has performed on Carson Daly's show, opened arena shows in England and been selected as iTunes' Single of the Week. After a busy summer that included the Lollapalooza, Sasquatch!, and Outside Lands festivals and a high-profile slot opening for fellow Portlanders the Decemberists on select dates, Blind Pilot is embarking on a national headlining tour to support their magnanimous debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound, released last year on Expunged Records. Initially a duo of Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, the group now includes Kati Claborn on banjo and dulcimer, Luke Ydstie on upright bass, Dave Jorgensen on trumpet and harmonium, and Ian Krist on vibraphone.
Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski first met as college students at the University of Oregon. They played together in the occasional band, but the roots of Blind Pilot didn't take hold until the two friends spent a summer abroad in Newquay, England, a laidback surfing town in the coastal county of Cornwall. Nebeker says, "The first night we saw a musician playing on the street. A cop came up and we thought, 'This guy's going to get busted.' But the cop stood and listened, then flipped a pound into the guy's case and walked off. So we said, 'Oh, we're doing this!'" Nebeker strummed an acoustic guitar while Dobrowski, a fine art student, kept time on a makeshift percussion kit constructed out of a sketchpad and pencil tin. "I used that sketchpad more as an instrument than for artwork," laughs Dobrowski. "By the end of the summer, the tin was all flared out from me hitting it."
After that summer of busking by the English seaside, it was a couple more years before Blind Pilot became a serious endeavor, but when Nebeker and Dobrowski decided to focus on making music as a duo, they again sought the ocean air for inspiration. In2006, the pair relocated to the dramatic landscape of Oregon's Pacific coast, a few miles north of Gearhart, Oregon, where Nebeker grew up. His hometown memories are strung throughout the lyrics to 3 Rounds' "Things I Cannot Recall": "We took off sleeping by the river and the beaches in your car/Up where you taught me how to drive a stick and told me your family secret."
In the fishing town of neighboring Astoria, Oregon, the pair camped out on the top floor of an old cannery to prepare songs without outside distraction. The building jutted out into the water, not far from where the Columbia River's broad mouth collides with the Pacific Ocean. Against that tumultuous backdrop, the gentle songs took sturdy formation. Nebeker's honest delivery, accompanied by Dobrowski's uncluttered timekeeping, steered a batch of very personal songs to completion--much like the river's pilot boats, from which Blind Pilot derived their name, guide the mammoth, freight-laden barges up the Columbia.
Both avid cyclists, Nebeker and Dobrowski decided their next move would be a tour by bicycle. Once the songs were together, and a batch of CDRs was readied and hand-pressed, the two embarked without a map or any gigs scheduled. They biked down the West Coast, playing wherever they could along the way. The effort of touring by bicycle was reward in itself. "If we rode all day and we couldn't find a show, or we played for just ten people, we still felt good about our day," remembers Dobrowski.
The first Blind Pilot bike tour started in Vancouver and ended abruptly in San Francisco after their bikes were stolen. But when 3 Rounds and a Sound was finished in Portland last year, they toured again by bicycle, this time making it all the way down to San Diego with new members Claborn and Ydstie in tow--Ydstie's upright bass lumbering behind in a coffin-like trailer. Says Nebeker of touring by bike, "Ironically, the harder you worked, the more fun you had, as long as it's good work for a good reason. When you just sit all day in a van, that's not as much fun." Of course, for this upcoming national tour, Blind Pilot will be traveling by van--a circumstance borne out of practicality, and a necessary side effect of the group's remarkably quick success--but they hold future hopes to tour by bicycle again as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the songs of 3 Rounds and a Sound have stood up after countless miles of road- travel, and Blind Pilot has evolved into a live unit whose group dynamic elevates the music. On record, songs like "The Story I Heard," and "Go On, Say It" are intimately personal meditations, but in the live setting, they take on a communal, celebratory air. Nebeker's voice is buttressed by Claborn's and Ydstie's soaring harmonies, and the folk-spun, roots-inspired arrangements take on both the austere gorgeousness of classical chamber music, and the breathing, perspiring qualities of a great rock 'n' roll show.
"They're playing our song/Can you see the lights?" sings Nebeker in 3 Rounds' title track. "Can you hear the hum of our song? I hope they get it right/I hope we dance tonight before we get it wrong/And the seasons will change us new."
Those lyrics are of careful optimism--but Blind Pilot already has much to look forward to. Very near the start of their journey, they've reached a broader audience than they'd ever imagined, yet they're not willing to make themselves comfortable, even insisting that their first European tour will be via bicycle. "And one of the things I'm most excited about recording the next album is to see how different we can make it,"
Nebeker adds. "The sound that we have going is working really well right now, but I'm totally excited to mess it up."
Paint Or Pollen
Blind Pilot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
listen for a singing
hitting in your bones like they were forks
If you hear what I hear
Don't just sit there.
We are only strumming water
on this most unlikely chord.
Not quite sailing
Riding on the trade-winds of age.
Things blow in
Don't just cast them
You say it now, what you want to stay
I was once on a long boat
star mapping the night roots
lightening the load
just in case
Things float in to be taken.
if you don't know by now, what will stay?
So don't move an inch.
Don't move a single second,
until the shade behind your thoughts is not confused.
'Cause I felt your itch.
I know the scent as well as any,
clotting your garden
of paint or pollen,
brick in your mortar,
petals to soak in,
on the cracks,
thicker or finer,
milk in your water,
black in your primer,
wood in your brush,
now I am your cloth,
whatever you want-
the best is upon us.
Its a finicky muse
with only potential
to choose.
The lyrics of Blind Pilot's song Paint or Pollen are highly poetic and metaphorical, creating a sense of mystery and intrigue around its meaning. The first half of the song describes a sense of restlessness and urgency, urging the listener to pay attention to the world around them and not just sit idly by. The "singing hitting in your bones like they were forks" is a powerful and visceral image, suggesting that the message being conveyed is something that cannot be ignored.
The second half of the song shifts focus to a personal narrative, describing a journey across the sea and the need to be open to new experiences. The line "Things blow in, don't just cast them" suggests that we should embrace the unexpected, rather than trying to control or resist it. The final verse emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the details in our lives, whether it is the "paint or pollen, brick in your mortar, petals to soak in" or the "milk in your water, black in your primer, wood in your brush." These small elements can add up to create something beautiful and complex, but it is up to us to recognize their potential and incorporate them into our lives.
Overall, the song seems to be about the importance of being present and aware of the world around us, embracing new experiences and paying attention to the details that give our lives meaning.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't move an inch
Stay still and pay attention
listen for a singing
Be attentive for a subtle message
hitting in your bones like they were forks
A message that resonates deep within
If you hear what I hear
If you understand my message
Don't just sit there.
Take action on what you hear
We are only strumming water
Our efforts may seem insignificant
on this most unlikely chord.
In an unexpected situation or environment
You got blown shore to shore,
Life metaphorically blew you from one place to another
Not quite sailing
Without direction or purpose
Riding on the trade-winds of age.
Moved by the passage of time
Things blow in
Opportunities or changes arise unexpectedly
Don't just cast them
Don't dismiss opportunities without thought
You say it now, what you want to stay
Think about what you want to keep in your life
I was once on a long boat
A personal story of the singer
star mapping the night roots
Navigating by the stars
lightening the load
Getting rid of unnecessary baggage
just in case
Being prepared for anything
Things float in to be taken.
Opportunities present themselves
if you don't know by now, what will stay?
Be clear on what you want to keep
So don't move an inch.
Pay attention to the message
Don't move a single second,
Stay focused
until the shade behind your thoughts is not confused.
Until your mind is clear and focused
'Cause I felt your itch.
The singer understands the listener's desire for something more
I know the scent as well as any,
The singer can relate
clotting your garden
Obstacles that prevent growth
of paint or pollen,
The beauty and the impermanent
brick in your mortar,
The building blocks of your life
petals to soak in,
The good things in life to cherish
on the cracks,
The imperfections in life
thicker or finer,
Different degrees of difficulty
milk in your water,
Unexpected challenges
black in your primer,
The darkness that precedes growth
wood in your brush,
The materials used to create
now I am your cloth,
The singer offers support
whatever you want-
The singer is available
the best is upon us.
The future holds promise
Its a finicky muse
Life is unpredictable
with only potential
But there is always potential for growth and success
to choose.
We have to choose to make the best of it.
Contributed by Alex V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.