Rose Gerber with Letson and the Letdown

Known for the unique juxtaposition of her wry wit and ability to pen a heartbreaking ballad, Rose is the sparkwielding title character in Portland’s homegrown alt/country rock band, Rose Gerber and Sweet Relief. Like so many PNW bands, born in a garage during the rainy season in 2017, a labor that consisted of the blue-ribbon twang of their trio of guitars (pedal steel, acoustic, and electric), and Rose’s smooth Americana alto. Together, the five-piece band is a melting pot of essential American sounds, bringing a high lonesome rock vibe to the familiar down home marriage of soaring harmonies and pedal steel whine. The band will remind you at once of Fleetwood Mac and Woody Guthrie, a Natalie Merchant-fronts-The Cardinals dose of nostalgia and innovation that can shift a pub crowd from laughter to heartache with just a handful of chords and Rose’s melancholy croon.

Surrounding the release of their debut album, Another Heartache, in the spring of 2019, Rose Gerber and Sweet Relief has been working the bucket list of essential Portland venues, wrecking havoc and heartache from the Alberta St. Pub to The Kennedy School. They’re a good time backed by some serious musical clout, with two of five band members hailing from the Berklee College of Music. Rose Gerber and Sweet Relief is at best the next reinvention of a timeless genre, and at worst the tune-wailing definition of Portland – where prowess, passion, and rainfall convene in a corner bar, keep the whiskey flowing, and sing the sort of songs we all want to come home to.