Jason Anderson

Known for a soulful and unpolished approach along with a fondness for classic power pop and ties to K Records, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jason Anderson issued three albums heading the fuzz pop group Wolf Colonel prior to his initial proper solo effort, New England, which came out in 2004. He continued issuing solo material while also performing alongside the Microphones, Little Wings, and Mirah, later making his Salinas Records debut via Omaha in 2013. The cassette compilation What It Was and What We Wanted (Selected Songs 2005-2020) arrived in 2020 as he shifted toward more pastoral sounds on self-releases such as the 2021 EP We Walked Home in Silence.

A New Hampshire native who already commanded guitar, bass, drums, piano, and organ, Anderson launched Wolf Colonel in 1996. His reputation for passionate live shows grew after he self-released the EP This Is Acid in 1998, which drew the notice of K Records founder Calvin Johnson. K subsequently released the project’s full-length debut Vikings of Mint in early 2000 and the follow-up The Castle later that same year. Wolf Colonel’s third and final album, Something/Everything from 2002, ultimately bore credit to both the band name and Anderson himself; producers on the record included Johnson, Phil Elverum (the Microphones, Mount Eerie), and Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu, White Rainbow). Throughout his Wolf Colonel period Anderson also contributed guitar and drums to the Microphones, Yume Bitsu, the Blow, Mirah, and Calvin Johnson & the Sons of the Soil, among other acts.

Anderson stepped out as a solo artist with the intimate New England in March 2004. Released on K, the album featured one song written by Elverum, who also played on the record alongside Johnson, Mirah, Forkner, and the Blow’s Khaela Maricich. Recorded in Boise, Idaho with Jeremy Jensen, The Wreath appeared in early 2005, followed by the rock & roll-driven Tonight on ECA Records in 2007. A host of 2008 releases encompassed the free digital-only On the Street and Life Sucks Love Sucks Dose Out as well as the K-issued The Hopeful and the Unafraid, which he recorded in Chicago during a two-day touring break.

Anderson resurfaced in 2011 with the stripped-down self-released Summer Style before signing with Detroit-based Salinas Records. His label debut Omaha, cut with a backing band, surfaced in mid-2013. He appeared on the Burst & Bloom Records compilation Songs for Pam in 2018 and issued a monthly series of “lost sessions” drawn from old hard drives, CD-Rs, and cassettes throughout 2019. His next Salinas album, Restless, finally emerged in March 2020, shortly before the December arrival of What It Was and What We Wanted (Selected Songs 2005-2020), a set of demos and rarities assembled by Portland cassette label Antiquated Future Records. Having settled in New Brunswick, Canada, Anderson then released the reflective We Walked Home in Silence EP in early 2021.