The Northbound
The Northbound formed above an auto shop in Bellingham, Washington, where Morgan Ellis, Jesse Holt, Cassidy Wu and Dean Rift rehearse between shifts. Their sound is built around melancholy harmonica lines, close harmonies and songs written about towns passed at forty miles an hour.
Rehearsing above the shop
The auto shop below means the band hears idling engines, passing semis and the occasional horn. Those sounds bleed into their music. “The road is in the walls,” Ellis says. “You can’t separate the place from the song.”
Harmonica as lead voice
Unlike most indie-folk bands where harmonica is a color, The Northbound treats it as a lead instrument. Cassidy Wu’s lines carry the melody as often as the vocals do.
Discography
- Static Bloom (2023) — 10 tracks, recorded live to tape
- Valley Road (2024) — 8 tracks, field recordings from the Bellingham corridor
