Music & Writing | Ramune

I first met Cyndy Chan when our bands played a gig together on the evening of the summer solstice in 2012.  A few years later Cyndy organized a series of Sunday brunches for Portland’s women musicians.  As a result of these gatherings, we tried playing together. The first tune we learned, “I’ll Be Your Mirror” by the Velvet Underground and Nico, was one of my favorite songs in high school. We sang the song together in harmony and from there Avalanche Lily was born. Our first practices were playing as an acoustic duo on Cyndy’s back deck, accompanied by Cyndy’s chickens singing along in tune and on the beat. We still have a phone recording for those who don’t believe that chickens can sing. After a couple months practicing together as a duo, it was time for a third, and Andrew Anymouse joined the band on drums and backing vocals. We played our first gig at the Portland Saturday Market in 2015. In 2017, Ramune's long time college friend and professional French horn player, Jen Harrison, joined the group on drums, percussion, and glockenspiel.  

 

We have enjoyed playing at a wide variety of venues including the prestigious Skamania Lodge, the Aloft Hotel, Skyline Tavern, Slim’s, the Firkin Tavern, the Mystery Gallery, Turn! Turn! Turn!, the Blue Room at Cartlandia, the Vancouver Farmer’s Market, private parties, and business events.

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We play original songs as well as eclectic covers of songs by Mazzy Star, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Jackson Browne, Alanis Morissette, Sebadoh, and Pavement.

 

Our debut EP, Dream Horizon, was released in 2017 on the Spring Equinox. Dream Horizon is available everywhere: i.e., on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, SoundCloud, CDbaby, etc. More info can be found at www.avalanchelily.com and our gigs are posted on facebook.

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“savory and a little bit addictive.”

- Kelly Jones, Portland Notes

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"What Avalanche Lily does, thankfully, is transport me back to that same period of the early 1990s where so many pop genres blended together which resulted in a general broadening of young minds."

- Marc Phillips, The Vinyl Anachronist

 

“Dream Horizon is a breezy delight from start to finish, sounding almost like a lost 90’s successor those C86 bands that some record collector geek might discover and lose his mind over. Like a burr that sticks to your wool jacket in the fall, this music is covered all over in tiny hooks."

-Matt Dinaro, Rock and Roll Portland Oregon