The Bitter Roots: Bio

The Story of-The Bitter Roots-Soul NW Roots Rock

The Bitter Roots a band from Seattle are Jeff Stetson and Ben Koostra. The Bitter Roots began in 2008. At the time Jeff was writing new songs and putting together a new band having recently shut down his previous band manSaveman after 5 years and 4 albums, when Ben showed up, liked the new tunes and signed on. Ben a talented multi instrumentalist from Missoula is the original drummer for Ein Heit and Silkworm. Jeff is the former leader of Missoula Bands Into the March and Chiseler. With the first 3 albums, a self titled, Moral Hazard and Chiaroscuro, The Bitter Roots began to garner some attention from college radio stations around the country and from the press.

The Band has previously, made the Indie Rock Cafe top 10, appeared in the Seattle Times Sunday Print Edition, featured on the July CMJ Mixtape, featured on the My Ballard blog, charted to CMJ at a dozen stations from coast to coast including 2 #1s, and featured in the Seattle Weekly tell us about your song series.

Noise Vibrations and Fumes is the 4th full length release for the band. The first single Fast and Slow released in January saw the band for the 2nd time be honored as 99.9 KISW’s Loud and Local Band of the Week in Seattle as well as appear on NW Music Scene and MyBallard to name few and be heard on radio stations across the world, even managing to crack the college music charts once again. This album is stories dear to the heart, from the joy of love to the pain of death, stories of religion and the information age, this album has a little bit of everything and hopefully, something for everyone.

As with previous albums, the new album was recorded by Jeff in his Water Works Hill Studios in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. The last 2 albums have been mixed by Floyd Reitsma at Studio Litho in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. Floyd is a veteran of the Seattle music scene and has recorded music for Dave Mathews, Pearl Jam and AudioSlave.

The Bitter Roots' music can best be described as driven soulful rock, guitar oriented and diverse, with vocal harmony and tight rhythms. The band draws from Punk, Metal, Garage and diverse Melodic Rock sounds from the West Coast to the UK to create a unique sound that is truly original. You may here influences from the likes of David Bowie, The Cure, Janes Addiction, REM, The Church, Tom Petty, Game Theory, Nirvana and many others.