In The Spotlight: Roseburg

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Roseburg is the indie, alt-rock fused musical project of Zach Knell, Samuel Sheppard (YesterKid), Keith Lambson (Dryggs), and Soren Buchert. The quartet formed appropriately in Roseburg, Oregon.

In December of 2016, Knell and Sheppard were both serving as missionaries in the small town of Roseburg. The night they met they wrote the beginnings of what became the band’s second single “Identity Prices”. The two continued communicating via handwritten letters (mission rules) for the remainder of their service, forming plans to start a band when they returned home. Since then, they’ve formed their fundamental sound and likened musical persona to an adrenalized, alternative rock sensation.

At the height of Roseburg’s popularity, right as they had released their debut full-length album and announced a nationwide tour, the pandemic hit, canceling everything and putting a big pause on their story. Taking a hiatus, the future of Roseburg was uncertain. That was until last year, when they broke their two-and-a-half-year silence with their single “Alice,” seeing them skyrocket back into the scene.

Now, unveiling their brand new EP, 2 in a Million, the band speaks about the opportunity of a second chance and the ability to start over again. In contrast to the debut album, which touched on big, wide-spread universal ideas, 2 in a Million is smaller, intimate, and personal. Knell shares, “It’s a record of our story, as a band, and our little community we’ve built around it. And how we are so grateful that after all of that, we are back together again with the people we love, doing the thing we love.” Taking things back to their roots, the EP is a more chill, organic soft rock record with a pinch of early 2000s pop-punk nostalgia.

2 in a Million includes tracks such as “Sun Sick,” which speaks about the frustrations of writer’s block and career difficulties. It also covers the band member’s fallout with each other during the pandemic, and the eventual mending of those relationships in both “See You Never” and “Flowers,” as well as their overall fight to make it through in “Obliviamos.” Knell touches further on “Obliviamos” sharing, “The title is a fake Spanish word, with the suffix “amos”, which is in the “together” tense. Into oblivion, together. It expresses our hope that even after all this time, we can still make this all work. That even though we, and maybe external voices thought we had fallen into oblivion, we’re in this together, either way it goes. But we’re keeping hope that we’re going to find our way.”

Then there is the focus track, “Good Morning” which is a direct response to the final track on their previous record, “Goodnight Punk.” The song details their gratitude to have woken up in a peaceful place after a long, painful night, and to still be with the people they love.

With a human touch for timelessness, Roseburg has a knack for remaining modern and polished. With features on Spotify editorial playlists, the quirky quartet has amassed over 10 million streams to date. For further information, visit the following links: