It’s a grey; foggy Sunday afternoon as I work on my second cup of decaf at the kitchen table listening to There is a Vine (LongAgoLight), the new record from Tree by Leaf. It’s on the last track and I’ll need to pop up and start it over momentarily because I am digging it bigtime.
It’s hard not to, Tree by Leaf are a consistently fantastic band. 

Meanwhile, Demi-Tasse, the 3 ½ pound Yorkie I’m dogsitting for is passed out by my feet on her fleece square. She doesn’t hear, or for that matter, see particularly well but I get the sense she’s digging this record too.

Tree by Leaf have just released their fifth record; There is a Vine (LongAgoLight) and will be having two release shows this weekend. Friday night they’ll be at The Rockport Opera House and then on Saturday night you can see them here in Portland at The Dogfish Bar and Grille. There is a Vine encapsulates everything that is so divine about this band. About 30 seconds into the opening track “Over and Over” I knew I was hooked. Between the vocals and guitar of Garrett Soucy, and the scintillating back-up vocals of Siiri Soucy, not to mention Garrett’s sage like lyrics, it’s ridiculous how good this band is. I mean business, people. 

Track 2, “Chicago at Night” was written by Garrett’s sister Erica and is driven by Siiri on lead vocals and her voice reminds me of everything I love about  oh I don’t know, say Mazzy Star, over the course of three minutes and twenty two seconds of musical bliss. “I like Chicago at night when the taxi lights are shining, so if I change my mind, I can catch my mind, I can catch a ride back into hiding.” Each track slips into the next and I’m drawn further and further into the abyss of Tree by Leaf; one that whirls around in alt. country, folk, Americana, and even an essence of gospel, at least to my ears. I could write about this record for days as each song winds its way up my headphone wires. “Fraud” is another one that Siiri takes lead on and her voice along with what I think is a dobro and a ukulele is nothing less than enchanting. Then Garrett jumps on lead vocals again with “Come on Babe,” the gutsy surrender of a love song, complete with just the right amount of harmonica from Garrett, the enchanting keyboards of Cliff Young and the inspired percussion from Eric Sanders.

I’ve barely had a moment to recover when Siiri starts in again with “Little Lost and Lonely.” “It’s better to forget than live with regret,” she sings, her voice illuminating Garrett’s words. During a song like this, there is no tense but the present and for about five minutes, there is no place I’d rather be than on this couch on a Monday night, with the lights turned down low and this fervent offering of perfection. Here’s the thing, I want to write about every single song on this record but I’ve got a bunch of other shows to get to so I’ll just pick one more lyric to leave you with. I’m slayed by this record and have had many certifiable “moments” over the past few days listening to it and I just wanna shake you all and tell you to catch one of their shows and more importantly, pick up a copy of There is a Vine. I skip to the song, “Believe it.” “Believe it. It’s not your vision; it’s the season. I keep on reaching but the ceiling just keeps on teasing.” P.S. Head to www.treebyleaf.org