Portland musician Rose Gerber releases new EP and performs in the Pacific Northwest

Portland musician Rose Gerber combines country, folk and alt-rock into her sound. Gerber released a new EP, “Untraveled Highway,” earlier this year. She will be headlining a country music fest at the Kenton Club on Saturday and joins us with an in-studio performance.

Note: The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Jenn Chávez: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Jenn Chávez. Portland Americana musician Rose Gerber contains multitudes. She combines country, folk and alt rock into her blended sound. This summer, she released her newest EP, “Untraveled Highway,” which explores themes of the open road. Portlanders can hear her this weekend when she’ll be headlining a Country Femme Fest at the Kenton Club on Saturday. But lucky for you, you can also hear her right now, because she’s right here in our studio beside me, and ready to play some tunes for us. Rose, thank you so much for being here. Welcome.

Rose Gerber: Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Chávez: Yeah, our pleasure too. Your newest EP, like I said, is called “Untraveled Highway.” And I have to say it has a very nice picture of you standing at the beginning of a bridge over a river, which I am venturing to guess is the Columbia?

Gerber: Yes.

Chávez: Love it, beautiful. Could you start by telling us a little bit about this new collection of music you’ve made? How would you sum up its vibe?

Gerber: Absolutely. It’s a collection of songs about the longing to travel, for freedom, to kind of get out on the road and forget about your problems.

Chávez: So relatable.

Gerber: And then some of the songs definitely dive into what you might be thinking about while you’re out there processing what you left behind, and then ultimately realizing that those things stay with you, and that sometimes the sense of home is also really nice. It’s kind of a journey of the mind outside of our problems, I guess.

Chávez: That sounds so lovely. So let’s hear one of your songs from the EP. And I want to say you’re joined today in our studios by pedal steel player Tucker Jackson.

The first track of your EP is called “Captain.” Is there anything you’d like us to know about this song before we hear it?

Gerber: My stepmom passed about a year-and-a-half ago from dementia. It was hard to see her go through it. But during that time, she shared a lot about how her memories were coming back, as she was also losing others. I got to know her better in a way, about her younger years. And so this song is inspired by some of those conversations I had with her.

[“Captain” playing by Rose Gerber]

Oh captain

Didn’t notice I had come this far

With the journey always ahead

Somewhat aimless

Been feeling lost among the waves

Wondering what road is left to tread

Oh captain

It’s so quiet

I was always lost among the din

Now there’s no place left to hide

With her love gone

No more fights left to win

I’m alone with what’s inside

Oh captain, captain?

Sometimes memories just come flooding in

Mostly good days I was blessed to live

Like my 18th summer

When the band played me on stage

Those were the good old days

Watching the sun sink

Trying not to count the times

Left to see it close the day

After I’m gone what will-be left of me

Will I blink out, fade away

Oh captain, captain, captain?

Sometimes memories just come flooding in

Mostly good days I was blessed to live

Like my 18th summer

When the band played me on stage

Those were the good old days

The good old days

Chávez: That was Rose Gerber and Tucker Jackson playing “Captain,” the opening track on Rose’s new EP “Untraveled Highway.” Rose, there’s tons of road imagery, as you mentioned, in this EP. What is so special to you about the open road?

Gerber: I have always had a romantic relationship with it. Road trips as a kid were always really exciting and special to me, the adventure of that. But also, when I was 16, I dropped out of high school and I rode around the country on my thumb mostly, and some freight trains and things. There is a part of me that sees that as my kind of rebellious golden years that are somehow romantic too. And I think there’s a part of me that always wants to access that and never let it go. So I live vicariously through road trips to gigs and writing songs.

Chávez: And I understand that the road actually had a role to play in your love for country music in the first place? Can you tell us that story of how you got into country?

Gerber: Sure, yeah. I was gonna come out to Portland, move out here sight unseen for grad school. I was really excited to start a new chapter out here. I had a goodbye party with friends in Vermont. A lady came by with a stack of burnt CDs – I’m gonna date myself here, this is how we shared music – and said “Hey, I’m here for Rose’s goodbye party. I’d like to give her these CDs. Where is she?” And I said “I’m Rose.” And she’s like “No no, you’re not Rose.” Turns out, there was another Rose with another goodbye party that was her friend. And she just left me with a stack of CDs, which were kind of old country music.

Till that point I was not a country fan, because I thought country was like kind of modern 90s-style country, cheesy 80s country. And so I threw those CDs in the whole way across, and discovered old country music, like Hank Williams and Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, and fell in love, and decided that’s how I wanted to start writing songs a little more. So that’s how I got to country.

Chávez: Beautiful, beautiful. And I also shared music by burnt CDs, so we’re all good here.

I feel like listening to music on a long drive just like hits different. Sometimes I am sobbing, sometimes I am listening to the same record five times in a row, and sometimes, true story, I am screaming the lyrics to Whitney Houston songs driving up I5, which was amazing. What do you think it is about that setting and those conditions of being on a long drive, and how they make music sound and feel?

Gerber: I think it’s where your brain’s at. It’s like shower brain. I find I write most of my songs in the car, because I’m just in that meditative, quiet space. And I think we let our guard down a little bit when we’re in the car because we’re not multitasking. Just being a little more open to your thoughts because you’re not distracted by anything but this kind of monotonous activity.

Chávez: That’s so interesting. So, by writing your songs in the car, do you mean that the lyrics come to you? Do you hear the notes and music for it? What exactly?

Gerber: A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. I also use my scenery for prompts. Like I have a song called “Weigh Station” because I saw a weigh station sign. I was like, that would make a great song, the idea of a weigh station, to kind of check in, and rest and weigh your stuff.

Chávez: That is wonderful. On that note, let’s hear another song from the EP, shall we? How about “Last Miles” – and anything you’d like us to know before listening?

Gerber: This is a good segue because this is a song I wrote on the road driving out from a gig, somewhere out by Yakima in Washington. I crossed a little one of those tiny little signs that you barely notice, it says Burbank Creek, marked one of the creeks under the highway. And this song just kind of popped up as I was looking at the traffic around me, the truckers, and thinking about a trucker character that formed in my mind. The song’s about this guy.

[“Last Miles” playing by Rose Gerber]

Crossing over Burbank Creek

Headed out from Yakima

Clearing out my head to think

About nothing at all

The radio is company

I guess the Kenworth’s home

Most my time is thinking how

I left you all alone

But it never feels right to call

With nothing to talk about

Did the best with what I had

Given the down and out

I suppose the time has passed

For us to make amends

If I could I’d share with you

All of my regrets

This is not how I thought it’d go

Spending these last miles all alone

Please forgive me Ann Marie

This is all I know how to be

I’m as dry as the desert plains

Ain’t touched a drop of rye

Sometimes tears will fall down my face

Before I know I’m crying

There’s a letter I might send

Before I cash out

Telling you all the things

That I never could spit out

For now I’ve got to make ends meet

Keep wood on the fire

Too damn old to care that much

Too young to retire

This is not how I thought it’d go

Spending these last miles all alone

Please forgive me Ann Marie

This is all I know how to be

This is not how I thought it’d go

Spending these last miles all alone

Please forgive me Ann Marie

This is all I know how to be

Chávez: Thank you so much, that was so beautiful. And you know, I’m listening to this and I’m mentally seeing the scenery passing by. I am also one who has gone on a lot of long drives. So, thank you so much.

So we talked about how you made it to Portland. When you got here, how did you get involved with the music scene here, particularly as someone who plays Americana music?

Gerber: When I first got here, I just hit every open mic and played everywhere I could. And everyone was really supportive and awesome, but there wasn’t like a cohesive scene. It was a lot of pockets, I think. I meet musicians now that have been playing in this town as long as I have, and I’m just meeting them.

So I plugged away like that for a bit, and then COVID hit. We did all the mourning of playing music out with each other. And then coming out of it, I noticed this really burgeoning country Americana scene. People just kind of all like collecting at gigs together, and being out for each other and supporting each other in a way I hadn’t seen before, a lot of venues embracing more of the country/Americana bookings as well. It’s just a really lovely talented collection of musicians now that are kind of really emerging and up and coming. And I think we have like an amazing almost Austinian, Nashvillian scene here, that I think Portlanders hopefully will start tuning into more and realize they have a really great country scene here.

Chávez: I am so happy to hear about how well this scene is blossoming right now. You mentioned Nashville and Austin, I think those are the cities that people typically think of when they think of cities associated with this genre. How is Portland different in terms of the music scene for country, and just the sound of music coming out of Portland?

Gerber: I mean, Portland’s Portland, right? We do our own, we do us. And I think that’s what’s great about the music scene here, there’s a lot of kind of genre/gender bending country. I don’t think of myself as classic country; I think of myself as alt-country. But there’s a place for me here. And I think we celebrate that within the country scene, that diversity of sounds. There’s a disco country band that I like a lot. Glam country. I think there’s a place for all of it here, and that’s what makes Portland maybe unique, if you’re someone who loves a broad spectrum of music.

Chávez: Wonderful. And you are not just a local musician, I know you are also a local advocate for Portland’s music scene and musicians. How do you think about advocating for local music and musicians?

Gerber: I try to be not just a musician for myself, but try to lift all boats, if you will. When I have a platform or when I’m able to, talking up other musicians, helping create spreadsheets for gigs to share with everyone. There’s a lot of great content creators who are also trying to do the same around town, and online, and on Instagram, and showcasing each other. So when we’re at gigs, looking at other bands, taking footage, sharing that, getting the word out about each other. It’s like all voices are amplifying each other. And that’s what creates this organic grassroots advocacy for each other. And I think that’s one thing that really makes my heart warm about this scene, no one is trying to step on someone else to get up the mountain. We’re all kind of pulling each other up.

Chávez: And how do you think Portland can be supporting local musicians right now?

Gerber: See live shows. Those who are making music as a living, that’s some of how they’re paying the bills. But it’s the venues you’re supporting, it’s an ecosystem, when you go out to see live shows. We want the venues to play at, and we want them to succeed as well. And so venues need folks to come out to the shows to pay the bills if they’re gonna hire musicians, and then they can pay the musicians. It’s a nice snowball effect.

Chávez: So you are involved with MusicPortland. The city of Portland has contracted with MusicOregon, and will be providing grant funding. What does that mean for you to see the city you live in, Portland, make an investment like that in music?

Gerber: I think it’s invaluable. One thing that MusicOregon, MusicPortland has done is recognized and demonstrated through studies the segment of the economy that music actually feeds, which at some points was estimated to be bigger than the timber industry, what it contributes to the state economy. Investing in that, making that an asset for Portland not only helps the kind of working class musician types who are here, being a big part of the larger economy – pouring coffee and whatnot – but it also attracts folks to the city as a cultural destination for music. It signals to me that the city is invested in supporting the music economy and ecology here, and making it part of the Portland identity.

Chávez: Can we hear another song now from “Untraveled Highway”? How about “Time Away”? What would you like to tell us about this track?

Gerber: This song is about when you need to break up with a friend, someone where you are very close, but maybe need to just take a step away and take a break from the relationship.

[“Time Away” playing by Rose Gerber]

Blonde young Kurt Cobain

Singing me songs that had my name

King of your one horse town

Letting the girls chase you around

Knowing you’d only let them down

Plenty of tears and a broken home

Walling up all of it stone by stone

No one left to blame

Only the bottle that called your name

I love you

But I don’t love the game

That we play out

And pretend we’re okay

I need a little time away

Heard you crossed the Mason Dixon line

To leave the ash and smoke behind

That’s it’s lonely there in Raleigh town

With only ghosts chasing you around

I love you

But I don’t love the game

That we play out

And pretend we’re okay

I need a little time away

I guess you never really know someone

Until the waters rise

Out here looking for the pieces still

Among what’s left behind

When the flood subsides

Will we share the warmth again

The long embrace of a good old friend

A joke a smile a drink or two

Let the bygones pass on through

I love you

But I don’t love the game

That we play out

But pretend we’re okay

I need a little time away

I need a little time away

Chávez: Thank you so much. That was “Time Away” from Rose, your newest EP, “Untraveled Highway.”

Before we let you go today, you, as I mentioned, are headlining a really cool sounding event this weekend, the Country Femme Fest at the Kenton Club in Portland. And I know you have other shows coming up too and other places where people can find you. What can you tell us about all of these opportunities to check you out in the future?

Gerber: Sure, thanks. Rosegerbermusic.com is my website, @RoseGerberMusic on Instagram. And then I’m on all your favorite listening platforms, from Spotify to Bandcamp to Apple. So, please visit me there, sign up for my mailing list, and I’ll always be posting about my gigs online.

Chávez: Beautiful. Well, thank you both so much for being in the studio with us today. Before we go, I’d love to hear just a minute of the title track of your EP “Untraveled Highway.” Let’s take a listen.

[“Untraveled Highway” playing by Rose Gerber]

I set out for Washington late into the night

Cold air on my face windows down

I could see the stars for once, waking me alive

Not a soul for miles around

I’m still on the move

Not about to let the rust set in

Or worry bout the way things should be done

Untravelled highway calling my name

I’m slowing down but I’m still on the move

There’s a freedom in the road that keeps me coming back

Never could sit still for too long …

Chávez: That’s “Untraveled Highway.” And Rose, thank you so much for joining us today and playing us your lovely music.

Gerber: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure being here.

Chávez: Yeah, absolutely. Rose Gerber is an Americana musician in Portland. She was joined in our studio by Tucker Jackson on the pedal steel guitar. She is playing on Saturday at the Kenton Club in Portland and her newest EP, “Untraveled Highway,” is out now.

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