100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 30: Temple Canyon
Please check out Verity Credit Union, our great partner in the 100 Bands in 100 Days local music showcase.
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, get ready for our sixth annual year-end daily local music showcase, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’ll be showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about. For the fourth year in a row, the showcase is once again presented by Verity Credit Union.
Make sure you are checking the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter on a daily basis to stay on top of all the bands featured and be sure to follow Verity and NW_Music_Scene on there. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the spotlight yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s featured act is Temple Canyon.
About the band:
Temple Canyon is a Seattle trio featuring the rapturous voice and nostalgia-inducing songwriting of lead singer & guitarist Mariko Ruhle. Anchored by a steady-handed and nuanced rhythm section comprised of long-time collaborators Al Reiter on drums and Jason Shao on bass, Temple Canyon plays music with a natural feel and a penchant for flowing dynamic shifts. On stage, hushed and intimate moments give way to raw energy and explosive, reverb-laden rock-outs, all while maintaining a feeling of intense emotional vulnerability. It’s music to dance to, cry to, and fall in love to. With each song, the listener is drawn a little deeper into a timeless world of memories and experiences, including bygone eras like the Laurel Canyon folk-rock of the 70s, the alt-rock underground of the mid-90s, and a wealth of other influences both in-between and beyond.
Like their bio states above, there’s a whole lot of good stuff going on with this band and a whole to fall in love with, especially if you are a fan of the legendary Laurel Canyon vibe. We premiered the video for “I Tangled With The Serpent” earlier this year and it’s easily one of our favorite songs to come out of the northwest this year. In another place and time that song would probably be a smash hit and there are some others off of Fortress like “Desire” that we could say the same thing about.
We also interviewed Mariko Ruhle in August, whose dynamic vocals are on full display throughout the new album. Below is an excerpt.
NWMS: You’ve drawn comparisons to both Heart‘s Ann Wilson, and the Laurel Canyon scene from the ’70s. What are your favorite albums from these acts, and how did they work on you and your music?
Mariko Ruhle: Heart’s Little Queen. It was the first vinyl record I really played, and played a lot. It had a great cover picture and I was super into the look. The faces were really saying something. It said, “Women Rock.” I often started it on the second side, because that title track is such a funky jam. I had never heard anyone that sounded like Ann Wilson.
When I finally saw Heart at the Puyallup State Fair (which was the absolutely perfect venue to see them at). I pretty much cried non-stop, it was pure joy and inspiration. I often say I want to be a combination of Ann and Nancy Wilson. The pipes and the guitar licks!
I got into Laurel Canyon’s scene long after listening to the music associated with it. My mom played Tapestry by Carol King all the time, and all of Joni Mitchell’s records. Blue of course became the most iconic to me because of its sheer cultural presence. By high school I was getting into it more retrospectively and singing every word of “Last Time I Saw Richard” from memory.
I really got into Neil Young and Crosby, Stills, and Nash after starting a group. I always liked their music but after rocking out with a band myself, the nostalgia of epic live versions of “Cowgirl in The Sand” became really exciting to me. The version on 4 Way Street by CSNY is one of my favorites, along with the entire album. I love the simplicity of Neil Young’s songs, they’re very comforting. Neil Young inspires me in my own songs: Just say/sing it how I feel and not worry about melody or the chords so much at the start.
Have a listen to the band below and if you aren’t a fan yet, get ready to be.
Listen:
Find the artist at:
Watch:
Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days are still open to any Pacific Northwest band interested in submitting. If you would like to submit for a chance to be featured in this segment, consult this link for more information on how you can do so.
A huge shoutout to Verity Credit Union for doing so much for the music community and for being such a great partner.
As an added bonus this year, House Of Cannabis will be playing the featured bands in each of their three Washington locations.
