Peter Oren

Peter Oren, a singer and songwriter whose voice carries deep and textured qualities, blends strains of country, blues, folk, and early rock & roll within his reflective indie folk approach. One year after issuing his debut, he delivered his first release for Western Vinyl, the socially aware Anthropocene, in 2017.

Born in Columbus, Indiana, Oren put out his initial full-length, the minimalist Living by the Light, on his own in 2016. At that stage he increased his live appearances, supporting himself solely on guitar. In the process he earned admirers including Joe Pug and Wilco drummer Ken Coomer. Once signed to Western Vinyl, he resurfaced in 2017 with Anthropocene, produced by Coomer and titled after the unofficial epoch shaped by human activity. Cut in Nashville, the album used a backing band assembled with Coomer’s assistance.

Motivated by society’s growing dependence on smartphones, Oren gathered recording gear and tracked his third album, The Greener Pasture, largely alone inside a cabin beyond Nashville’s city limits. Released by Western Vinyl in 2020, the record drew on remote contributions, among them pedal steel from Aaron Goldstein, plus a handful of locally captured performances highlighted by drummer Mark Edlin.