may 19. 2000
May 13-21
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Day two for the Doug
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“the only shop that
comes to you”
Poignant regional rocker Sarah Dougher
releases her second, solo album
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K aty D avidson
T
he dim light inside Jackpot Studios beck
ons me like a flashlight in a cave. I have
been walking along Southeast Morrison
Street in the dark for about 10 minutes—
not for the sheer fun of it, mostly because I for
got the precise directions. Finally, I stumble
across the tell-tale mailbox label and quietly
open the door.
It is late January and I am going to visit
Sarah Dougher (pronounced “doc-grrr”) while
she records her new album, The Walls Ablaze.
Dougher, a 32-year-old Oregon native, has
spent the majority of her life in school and the
majority of her free time playing in dyke rock
hands and being an activist. About 10 years
ago, Dougher graduated from Reed College in
Portland, then went on to earn her Ph.D. in
comparative literature
and classics at the U ni
versity of Texas in
Austin.
“I went to school for a
really, really, really long
time,” she says. “It was
pretty much the main
focus of my life up until
about three years ago.
And I’m never going
back to school.”
She currently plays
keyboard and sings in two hands, the Crabs
and Cadallaca. Last summer, she released a solo
album called Day One on Olympia, Wash.-
hased K Records. So last January, with a collec
tion of newly composed songs to document,
she brought her instruments and ideas to Port
lander Larry Cranes domain, otherwise known
as Jackpot.
When I enter the studio, Dougher is in the
far room, noodling on the piano. She’s prepar
ing to record “What She’d Trade,” one of the
two piano tracks she’ll put on the new album.
She plays the rest of her songs on guitar.
From inside the sound booth, I can hear a
metronome beep like an Atari heartbeat— this
noise is being sent directly into Dougher’s
headphones in the next room so she can keep
time while she plays. I quickly discover that
I’ve walked in on Dougher and Crane trou
bleshooting— the problem is that Dougher
can’t hear the metronome and piano together
in the headphones while she plays. Dougher’s
remedy is to wrap a large cloth tightly around
her head so the sound is more present.
“What She’d Trade” sounds like a classic
Dougher song; the chord progression is quirky,
hut not hokey; the piano line sounds hesitantly
hopeful. Dougher’s musical buddy, Jon Reuter,
joins her on guitar for much of this album, just
as he did on the previous one.
Dougher says, "I think playing music is one
of the most fun ways to hang out with other
people.”
On “What She’d Trade,” Reuter inter
weaves a subtle guitar line into the piano work.
There are many, many takes, but finally the
basic piano and guitar tracks are recorded. I
spend much of my time behind plate glass, lis
tening to the session and speaking with Crane
about recording techniques.
1 only stay to hear Dougher and Reuter
record one song. It’s late and they’ve already
laid the groundwork for four other songs,
including a guest appearance on the drums by
Janet Weiss, who plays with Sleater-Kinney
and Quasi.
Three and a half months later, Dougher’s
finished C D is in my hands. The 12-song
album— which is released by Mr. Lady, a les
bian label based in North Carolina— is differ-
ent from Day One, Dougher says, because the
songs are interwoven more thematically and
musically.
“These songs are stronger,” she says. “On
the last record, there were more things happen
ing. There are fewer things happening on this
one, hut 1 think it makes it better."
The Walls Ablaze is certainly more lyrically
simplistic than Dougher’s last record. (Day
One’s liner notes resemble an epic novel.)
Dougher pays more attention to musical acces
sibility on the new release— the fast stings are
hook-filled and consequently catchy, the slow
stings are soothing and could maybe hold their
own on VH1 (the old VH1, not the hip VH1).
“No-Handed" is jangly and full-sounding,
“The Scales” has a superinfectious chorus & la
Liz Phair, and “The Ground Below” is sappy in
an OK kind of way. “Mirror/Shield" is the most
rocking song on The WaUs Ablaze and is also
the album’s best-written.
Compared to the thickness of Day One,
Dougher’s new record offers a lot of breathing
room.
■ S arah D ougher is currently touring the
nation, and she will hold a record release party at
the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside St. m
Portland, at 9 p.m. June 10. For ticket informa -
lion, call (503) 225-0047.
K aty D avidson is a Just Out staff writer who
may be reached at katy@justout.com.