Noah Gundersen & the Courage
Encyclopedia
The Courage is an indie band initially started in Centralia, Washington
by siblings Abby & Noah Gundersen and expanded to Travis Ehrenstrom and Ivan Gunderson. The group has two EPs
, a live CD
, and a studio album
. Before the removal of Noah Gundersen's name from the title and the incorporation of the entire band, a majority of the songs were written and recorded by Noah and Abby.
and harmonies in 2006
. Noah Gundersen & the Courage began in 2006 in Centralia, Washington
. They began playing shows throughout the Washington/Oregon region, and quickly gained a fan base there.
Noah's first CD, "Brand New World" (recorded by himself, Abby Gundersen, and Michael Porter) was recorded in Eugene, Oregon
in a home studio. It began to be sold on the internet in 2008. That summer, an internet hacker named "andrewlandon" discovered Noah Gundersen's music and stole his song "Winter" (as well has three songs by a neighboring musician, Jacob White, and several other artists) and put it on his own MySpace
.
In mid 2008, Live at the Triple Door, the band's first live CD was released independently as they toured throughout the west coast. In May, Noah and Abby made another western tour with Garage Voice and Tom Rorem, an ensuing two month tour alongside Chelsea Seth of Paper Mache occurred that August. On October 9, The Courage played a show at The Q Cafe to release Noah's newest album, "Saints & Liars". Paige Richmond, a Seattle Weekly
reporter attending the show gave the band's performance and new CD an outstanding review, titling the review "Noah Gundersen Brings Q Cafe Crowd to Its Feet" As winter set in, the band became stationary while Abby began to pursue her college education and the other three set out finding other jobs. Noah Gundersen & the Courage continues to rehearse and play shows in the WA/OR area at venues such as The Round and the Triple Door, while staying less active.
On December 10 at midnight, The Courage released a new song on their myspace, "Moles", which is the only studio recording of The Courage. The song was only on their music page for a few days but physical CDs were released when they performed at the Triple Door on December 29. In the following February, the track "Middle of June", off of Saints & Liars, appeared on an episode of One Tree Hill
.
The band announced through their new website, as well as with an interview with Seattle Weekly
, that their first full-length album would be released in the summer of 2010. The album, according to Seattle Weekly, marks a transition in the band as the group moved from a singer/song-writer led band fronted by Noah Gundersen—one that frequented solo acoustic songs—to a functioning unit that creates songs that incorporate the entire band. Noah Gundersen has even considered removing his name from the band's title.
Recording for The Courage's studio album began on March 16 of 2010. The band announced their progress with several updates through their Twitter
account revealing that on the 27th of March, they had finished recording the album and in early July, they had started mixing the album. The album is the first full-length recording to be released by The Courage.
. On August 3, the band announced the change of their title as well as the name of their debut album via their Twitter
page, A new song, "Frequency," was streamed for free off of their official website in the beginning of September. On September 11, The Courage played a release show for Fearful Bones
and followed up with a three week tour of the West Coast with the album's producer, Matt Lee, playing lead guitar.
during the "Local Lounge".
He performed the songs "Poor Man's Son", "The Ocean", and "No Fairness" and aired the songs "America", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Current State of Things", and "Oh, Momma".
But additional artist play varying roles in the Courage, often playing with the band live
group called Beneath Oceans. While the group was active, the band played shows throughout the West Coast, and recorded an unreleased EP.
At the end of 2008, with the departure of Keelan O'Hara, Gundersen announced that the band was done.
Beneath Oceans Myspace profile
Centralia, Washington
Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,336 at the 2010 census.-History:In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran came from Missouri with his...
by siblings Abby & Noah Gundersen and expanded to Travis Ehrenstrom and Ivan Gunderson. The group has two EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, a live CD
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, and a studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
. Before the removal of Noah Gundersen's name from the title and the incorporation of the entire band, a majority of the songs were written and recorded by Noah and Abby.
Biography
Noah Gundersen began playing music when he was 10 or 11 years old when his parents had him take piano lessons. Later he taught himself to play the guitar and recorded songs with his father's recording equipment. Around the age of 16, Noah was performing solo in local cafes. His sister Abby began to accompany him with violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and harmonies in 2006
. Noah Gundersen & the Courage began in 2006 in Centralia, Washington
Centralia, Washington
Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,336 at the 2010 census.-History:In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran came from Missouri with his...
. They began playing shows throughout the Washington/Oregon region, and quickly gained a fan base there.
Noah's first CD, "Brand New World" (recorded by himself, Abby Gundersen, and Michael Porter) was recorded in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
in a home studio. It began to be sold on the internet in 2008. That summer, an internet hacker named "andrewlandon" discovered Noah Gundersen's music and stole his song "Winter" (as well has three songs by a neighboring musician, Jacob White, and several other artists) and put it on his own MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
In mid 2008, Live at the Triple Door, the band's first live CD was released independently as they toured throughout the west coast. In May, Noah and Abby made another western tour with Garage Voice and Tom Rorem, an ensuing two month tour alongside Chelsea Seth of Paper Mache occurred that August. On October 9, The Courage played a show at The Q Cafe to release Noah's newest album, "Saints & Liars". Paige Richmond, a Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
reporter attending the show gave the band's performance and new CD an outstanding review, titling the review "Noah Gundersen Brings Q Cafe Crowd to Its Feet" As winter set in, the band became stationary while Abby began to pursue her college education and the other three set out finding other jobs. Noah Gundersen & the Courage continues to rehearse and play shows in the WA/OR area at venues such as The Round and the Triple Door, while staying less active.
On December 10 at midnight, The Courage released a new song on their myspace, "Moles", which is the only studio recording of The Courage. The song was only on their music page for a few days but physical CDs were released when they performed at the Triple Door on December 29. In the following February, the track "Middle of June", off of Saints & Liars, appeared on an episode of One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
.
The band announced through their new website, as well as with an interview with Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
, that their first full-length album would be released in the summer of 2010. The album, according to Seattle Weekly, marks a transition in the band as the group moved from a singer/song-writer led band fronted by Noah Gundersen—one that frequented solo acoustic songs—to a functioning unit that creates songs that incorporate the entire band. Noah Gundersen has even considered removing his name from the band's title.
Recording for The Courage's studio album began on March 16 of 2010. The band announced their progress with several updates through their Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account revealing that on the 27th of March, they had finished recording the album and in early July, they had started mixing the album. The album is the first full-length recording to be released by The Courage.
Fearful Bones and name change (2010-present)
By the beginning of August 2010, recording, production, and mixing for the new album had been completed in a barn in Sisters, OregonSisters, Oregon
Sisters is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, but more than doubled to 2038 as of the 2010 census.- History :...
. On August 3, the band announced the change of their title as well as the name of their debut album via their Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page, A new song, "Frequency," was streamed for free off of their official website in the beginning of September. On September 11, The Courage played a release show for Fearful Bones
Fearful Bones
Fearful Bones is the debut album of The Courage, formerly known as "Noah Gundersen & the Courage". The album was recorded in a barn in Sisters, Oregon by Matt Lee, who mixed and produced the album, in the summer of 2010...
and followed up with a three week tour of the West Coast with the album's producer, Matt Lee, playing lead guitar.
The Local Lounge
On January 11, 2009, Noah Gundersen played live for 45 minutes on KCDAKCDA
KCDA is a Modern-leaning Adult Contemporary outlet owned by Clear Channel Communications. The station offers up a mix of familiar new music with less talk. Its COL is Post Falls, Idaho and serves the Spokane, Washington area on a frequency of 103.1 MHz and an effective radiated power of 18.5...
during the "Local Lounge".
He performed the songs "Poor Man's Son", "The Ocean", and "No Fairness" and aired the songs "America", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Current State of Things", and "Oh, Momma".
Live performances
The Courage's live performances vary greatly from Noah's studio recordings: while the studio recordings are usually only Noah and Abby Gundersen, the entire band takes part in performing live. The line-up is also constantly changing, guests may appear at shows with additional guitars, saxophones, and other instruments.Members
The core of The Courage is- Noah Gundersen- GuitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
/SongwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
/Singer - Abby Gundersen- ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
/Backing vocals - Travis Ehrenstrom- Bass guitar
- Ivan Gunderson- DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
But additional artist play varying roles in the Courage, often playing with the band live
- Michael Porter - Electric GuitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, additional guitar on "Brand New World" - Chris Judd - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Vocals - Michael Rabb - KeysKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, TambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, Vocals (appears on Live at the Triple Door) - Drew Konzelman - MandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, Violin, Octave Violin, Electric Guitar - Matt Lee - guitar (Fearful Bones tour in September 2010)
Noah Gundersen and the Courage
- Live at the Triple Door (2008)
Noah Gundersen
- Brand New WorldBrand New World (album)Brand New World is Noah Gundersen's first CD released under his own name. It features his sister, Abby Gundersen, singing backup vocals and playing the violin, and Michael Porter playing an additional guitar.-Track listing:# "Brand New World" - 4:48...
(2008) - Saints & LiarsSaints & LiarsSaints & Liars is the second EP by Noah Gundersen. The name of the CD is found in "Middle of June" in the line "All the saints and the liars sitting by the fire/ what will happen to us now?"It was recorded in the fall of 2009 with Karli Fairbanks...
(2009) - FamilyFamily (Noah Gundersen album)Family is the self-released third EP by Noah Gundersen. It was recorded by Daniel Mendez and mastered by Ed Brooks in just under a week in Dallas. It was released on August 6, 2011...
(2011)
Compilations
- We Love This Comp. Vol. I (2011)
-
- The Courage's song, "All You Know," was released on Building Burning Record's 16-track compilation called We Love This Comp. Vol I on March 29, 2011. The album features several Oregon based folk and indie bands.
National Theatre Project
Bassist Travis Ehrenstrom leads an acoustic Oregon based band, National Theatre Project.- Travis Ehrenstrom - Vocals, Guitar
- Seth Rodriguez - SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Matt Cartmill - Drums
- Patrick Pearsall - Bass
Beneath Oceans
Noah Gundersen was frontman and singer for a post-hardcorePost-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
group called Beneath Oceans. While the group was active, the band played shows throughout the West Coast, and recorded an unreleased EP.
At the end of 2008, with the departure of Keelan O'Hara, Gundersen announced that the band was done.
Beneath Oceans Myspace profile