Artist description Saving Faded Dreams is The Strawmen’s latest jangly guitar pop diary about love, God, desperation, and hope. . .not necessarily in that order. The record almost demands that it be listened to in its’ entirety. Each track certainly stands on its own, but makes just a little more sense in the context of the whole. While the lyrics may sometimes threaten to jump, the music always talks them down without a scratch. The record begins with Runaway, a spirited conversation about avoiding reality. The catchy guitar hooks and melody belies the sober content of the dialogue going on between the lead and background vocal in the chorus. It was inspired by a friendship with an intellectually brilliant, but emotionally crippled young man who was already “sick of it all”. The song doesn’t get preachy or sentimental, but rather opts for the two of them staying up all night, catching a bus downtown in order to see “. . .what the sun brings ‘round.” It’s a classic story of the power of friendship. The record ends with Amputate, a lo-fi lament concerning the effort involved in trying to live without a heart. “Now that my heart is gone, I’m a harmless man” sums up the lyric and the spooky guitar drives it into your soul. In between these two bookends are songs which make their way through paradise lost battling loose tongues (Saving Faded Dreams), lousy relationships (Old News, The Reason Why), and literary inspired soundscapes (Innocent). Their influences range from REM to Steely Dan. . .Jaco Pastorius to Johnny Marr. . .John Prine to Leonard Cohen. The Strawmen project is the brainchild of three guys. Bill: lead singer, lyricist, melody finder, guitarist and songwriter, who years ago had the rare opportunity to pitch his songs to Johnny Cash in person. Cash didn’t care for the songs, but told Bill to “never put that guitar down.” Who’s going to argue with that? He’s been trying to write better songs ever since. Mark: bass player, guitar player, loopster , songwriter, and background vocalist is probably best know in the music industry as the bass player for the popular band, The 77s. Mark loves the bass, and it shows in his lyrical approach to the instrument. Mark and Bill are brothers and their vocal harmonies have that distinctive sound that only genetics can produce. David: guitar player, keyboardist, songwriter, and hook-meister extraordinaire also had a stint in The 77s and co-wrote songs with them dating back to that band’s self-titled release on Island Records. David’s inspiration for many of his guitar parts comes from Johnny Marr. You can hear that haunting and chimey melodic quality on songs such as Can’t Satisfy, Saving Faded Dreams, and The Reason Why.

Music Style Jangly guitar pop/rock

Similar Artists REM, ColdPlay

Group Members Bill Harmon: vocals, guktars Mark Harmon: bass, vocals, synth David Leonhardt: guitars, keyboards

Instruments Guitars, Drums, Keys

Albums Saving Faded Dreams, At Home

Location Portland, OR - USA

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