Meeting at the intersection of the loner-folk, cosmic country and kraut-laden choogle, Pacific Northwest crooner Jeffrey Silverstein is back with his third full-length LP on new label Full Time Hobby. “Jeffrey Silverstein’s Full Time Hobby debut is built on slow-mo choogle and a talkin’-blues drawl indebted to Tony Joe White — patient, low-register, unhurried, until the guitar decides it’s time to bust out." - New Commute Doggone was recorded in Portland, Oregon in January of 2025 at the Center for Sound, Light and Color Therapy with longtime collaborator Ryan Oxford. It features Akron/Family founding member Dana Buoy (drums), Rick Pedrosa (Rose City Band/Abronia) on pedal steel & guitar, and Alex Chapman (bass). Guest contributions come from Devendra Banhart and Portland singer-songwriter Merle Law. The album will be mastered by Amy Dragon (Nathaniel Rateliff, Big Thief, Moon Duo). Doggone centers around themes of community, aging, recognizing your gift is in your blood, carving out your own version of success, planting seeds/growing roots, and the impact of place on creative work. Silverstein continues to explore the intersection of loner-folk, cosmic country, and kraut-laden choogle found across his previous releases. While writing the songs for this record, Silverstein discovered his uncle was a songwriter and manager for North Country Band, a 1970s Grateful Dead–inspired country-rock group from Minnesota. Silverstein had been DJing the album & showing live performances to friends before knowing his uncle's involvement. This furthered his understanding of his uncle's life in music (performing with Doc Watson, putting on shows for Jerry Jeff Walker, etc.) and gave him the inspiration and motivation to keep pressing on with the album. Album art features an archival photo of Hat ‘n’ Boots, a famous landmark designed by Pacific Northwest artist Lewis Nasmyth in 1953 for a Western-style gas station, now in Seattle's Oxbow Park due to a community-led effort to save them from demolition. The iconic roadside attraction fell into disrepair after the original gas station closed in 1988. In 2003, the community rallied to have the structures moved, and they were restored and reopened as a park landmark in 2005. Press photos and video have been captured in front of the landmark and will be used to tell the story of the record.
