Dearest, Crown

Portland Oregon's Dearest, Crown mixes simple but endearing melodies with bowed, fretted, and wind instrumentation. The music wanders from bluegrass, swing, and folk balladry to indie-pop reminiscent of the Verlaines and Neutral Milk Hotel. Often described by reviewers as a "folk-rock Flaming Lips", the music is diverse without being distracting. The words are a significant component of their compositions, dealing at equal levels of earnestness with geomorphologic phenomena, mathematical quandaries, and more conventional lyrical topics.

The band started as a side project for Todd Steinberg and singer/songwriter Sean Harrasser. Both were members of Harvester, an indie-pop four piece with a loyal northern California following. Harvester was signed to Geffen (DGC) in the mid 90s, but the band's relationship with the label was short lived. Following their major label debut, Me Climb Mountain, the four band members moved to 3 different states. Yet Harvester would release three more full length albums and one EP with Northern California's Lather Records and German label Trocadero Records.