Pacific Range

Combining sweet, flowing, airy country-rock melodies with a subtle jam band approach, L.A.'s Pacific Range formed in 2017 as Grateful Dead-inspired heirs to the throne of Beachwood Sparks. Guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Seamus Turner met drummer Nate Ward in 2013 while the pair studied music at California State University in Chico. Using campus facilities, they crafted an EP under the moniker Dakota Cree, which led to several local gigs. When their course ended, the duo decamped to Turner's parents' home in L.A. and soon started playing shows as the Salty Spittoons. Bassist Cameron Wehrle caught a Hotel Café appearance, bonded with them over the Dead, and before long joined the pair -- along with good friend, keyboardist, guitarist, and former Echophonix bandmate Stewart Fogerty -- to form Pacific Range. A self-titled EP was issued in October 2017 and they spent the next year playing live up to five nights a week in the city. June 2019 brought a Jam in the Van session before the band started work on their debut full-length with producers Dan Horne and Dave Schools. Naturally, they went for a live, immediate sound, building on a tight, jamming bond developed on their local circuit. Guests on these sessions included Duane Betts -- son of the Allman Brothers' Dickey -- local singer/songwriter Nikki Segal, and Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci from fellow L.A. country act Mapache. Jade Castrinos not only contributed backing vocals to "Nothing Else More," but also went on to become the fifth member of Pacific Range. In March 2020, Beachwood Sparks' Brent Rademaker chose the resulting double-LP, High Upon the Mountain, as the debut release for his own Curation Records.
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