Thanksgiving and Adrian Orange & Her Band are the names under which

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

singer/songwriter Adrian Orange (born March 20, 1986) performs. First adopting the "Thanksgiving" moniker around 1999–2000, Orange played experimental folk music, often accompanying himself on guitar and self-recording his albums using analog equipment. While Thanksgiving is essentially a solo act, Orange often collaborates with other musicians in his recordings and performances.

Overview

Thanksgiving (1999-2006)

Thanksgiving's debut ''We Could Be Each Other's Evidence'' was released by Vit! Vit! Recordings when Orange was just fifteen years old. In 2000 he co-founded

Marriage Records Marriage Records is a small, independent record label formed in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2001 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The label has released a number of albums by musicians such as Adam Forkner, Dirty Projectors, Little Wings ...

with Curtis Knapp and released his second album ''Nothing'' on the label the following year. Orange was notably prolific during this period, releasing six albums (including one self-titled triple LP), three EPs and several singles under the name Thanksgiving on various labels. He also played drums in the instrumental group The Watery Graves of Portland alongside Knapp and Davis Lee Hooker, and toured and recorded with

YACHT A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 23, 1978) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began ...

(

The Microphones The Microphones are an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental project from Olympia, Washington. The project was founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007 and revivals in 2019 and 2020. Across every it ...

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of The Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

) and

Geneviève Castrée Geneviève Elverum ( Gosselin; April 9, 1981 – July 9, 2016), also known as Geneviève Castrée, was a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and musician from Quebec. An early admirer of comics, she began creating them at a young age. L'Oie de Cra ...

Adrian Orange & Her Band (2006-07)

In 2006 Orange released the LP ''Bitches Is Lord'' under his own name and toured the world with a nine-piece backing band, initially known as Child Slave Rebellion and later Adrian Orange & Her Band. The touring group, featuring members of

LAKE A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, François & the Atlas Mountains and

Rozi Plain Rozi Plain is a London-based musician originally from Winchester, England. Biography Rozi Plain was born Rosalind Leyden in Winchester, England, in 1986. In 2006 she moved to Bristol to study art, and she participated in the Cleaner Records gro ...

, recreated older Thanksgiving material with new textures and instrumentation described variously as "rogue West African prison-funk" and "acid-tinged dub-jam nomad blues". In February 2007 the band reconvened at

Dub Narcotic Studio K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music ...

Olympia, WA Olympia is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County, Washington, Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a c ...

to record a self-titled LP, released later that year on

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

. They also released the single ''Interdependance Dance'' as part of the label's long-running International Pop Underground 7" series. ''Adrian Orange & Her Band'' received mixed responses from critics, although ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

'' described the album as "groundbreaking" and ''

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

'' praised it as "a vital snapshot of a singer engaged in a constant process of artistic discovery and renewal, with startling, fascinating, often wondrous results".

Recent projects

In late 2007 Orange adopted the moniker Lyllyys (and later AOK) and began performing with the greater

Portland, OR Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous cou ...

experimental music scene including members of Rob Walmart,

Jackie-O Motherfucker Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American experimental music group that formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. Biography Jackie-O Motherfucker began as a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist Tom Greenwood and saxophonist Nester Bucket. The group is a ...

and White Rainbow. Around this time he contributed vocals to the LP ''Naked Acid'' by

Valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...

and released two CDRs of free-form, electronic work. In 2011 Gnar Tapes released a double cassette of Orange's experimental recordings entitled ''Deep Stain Doublest Dubba Dope Duba Stank Dank Tape''. According to the label, Orange had "suffered a near complete mental collapse, triggered by all manners of fatigue" following his most recent world tour and for a time "very few were aware of isactivities or whereabouts." He has since recorded and performed sporadically, at one point having relocated to

Kekaha Kekaha (literally, "the place" in Hawaiian) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 3,715 at the 2020 census, up from 3,175 at the 2000 census. History For most of the 20th century, the Ke ...

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Influence on other musicians

Orange has been cited as an influence by

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit A ...

and praised by the likes of

David Longstreth David Longstreth (born December 17, 1981) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and guitarist for the band Dirty Projectors. Biography Longstreth was born in Southbury, Connecticut. Longstreth attended Yale University and ...

(

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

) and

Charlie Fink Charlie Fink (born 16 May 1986) is an English songwriter, producer and filmmaker best known for fronting Noah and the Whale and for his work as a composer for theatre. He has been described as "one of Britain’s most daring and inventive song ...

(

Noah And The Whale Noah and the Whale were a British indie rock and folk band from Twickenham, formed in 2006. The band's last line-up consisted of Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Tom Hobden (violin/keyboards), Matt "Urby Whale" Owens (bass guitar), Fred Abbott (g ...

has described Orange as "an actual real-life lounging grass-grove poet who went on to write the best songs in human history."

Discography

Albums

*''We Could Be Each Other's Evidence'' CD (2002, Vit! Vit! Records) *''Nothing'' CD (2002, Marriage Records) *''Welcome Nowhere'' CDR/LP (2004, P.W. Elverum & Sun - re-released in 2007 with bonus material) *''The River'' CD (2005, Marriage Records/Hive-Fi Recordings) *''Thanksgiving'' triple LP + CD (2005, Marriage Records/P.W. Elverum & Sun) *''Cave Days And Moments'' CD (2006, Marriage Records) *''Bitches Is Lord'' CD/LP (2006, Marriage Records - as Adrian Orange) *''Adrian Orange & Her Band'' CD/LP (2007, K Records - as Adrian Orange & Her Band) *''L.S. = M.F.T.'' Cassette (2020, Dead Doctors Don't Lie - as Adrian Orange)

EPs, singles, cassettes and digital releases

*''Now It Is All Over Like The Birds'' CD EP (2004, Marriage Records) *"The Lake At Night"/ "In The Lake" 7" single (2004, Marriage Records) *''The Ghost & The Eyes w/ Trees in the Ground, Outside the Window'' CD EP (2004, States Rights Records) *''The "In The World" Or Six New Songs of Thanksgiving'' 10" EP (2005, Marriage Records) *"Bitches Is Lord" / "We'll Die" (Live at Barden's Boudoir) lathe-cut 7" single (2006, Twenty Bees) *''Twenty-Six Examples / Thanksgiving'' split cassette EP with Thee Moths (2006, Undereducated) *"Interdependance Dance" 7" (2007, K Records / International Pop Underground - as Adrian Orange & Her Band) *''AJO'' CDR EP (2007, Marriage Records - as Lyllyy's Adrian Orange) *''Zone Out: The Prequel'' CDR EP (2008, self-released - as AOK) *''Deep Stain Doublest Dubba Dope Duba Stank Dank Tape'' double cassette (2011, Gnar Tapes - as Adrian Orange) *''Four Songs'' cassette (2012, Gnar Tapes - as Adrian Orange) *''The Blue Twilight'' digital album (2013, Shatter Your Leaves - as Thanksgiving) *''Thanksgiving / R.Ariel'' cassette (2014, Rubber Brothers Records)

References

External links

Adrian Orange at K RecordsThanksgiving at Marriage Records (archived)Thanksgiving at Bandcamp
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thanksgiving Musical groups from Portland, Oregon 1986 births Living people