Album Notes

Carley Baer's first instrument was a Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard. As a curious four-year-old, she would spend hours of her life hammering away on it, composing timeless classics about moonbeams and other topics of extreme importance to a child. Few knew back then that those rudimentary beginnings would pave the way for a promising musical career. She was steeped in music growing up; her father is a musician, her mother, an aficionado. She was shunted into Suzuki-style violin in the third grade, and dutifully studied for three years before gracefully hanging up her bow to pursue other interests: namely, the guitar. One random day, she picked up one of her father's guitars and began to teach herself how to play. She started writing terrible songs, being thirteen at the time, but eventually she learned enough about writing terrible songs to start writing decent ones. Fast-forward a few years, and she was fronting a popular high-school band, Samoa, that was prominent in the local battle of the bands scene. From there, the high school band evolved into a first-year-of-college band, io Donna, which released a professional CD and played at the South Dakota State Fair. When io Donna called it quits, Carley took an "unintentional hiatus." It wasn't until a very good friend took her to an open mic that her passion for music began to burn once more. The open mic was at the Bremen Cafe, which fostered Carley's musical resurgence and continues to offer support to this day. Through the Bremen, she appeared with national female showcase Chick Singer Night, which led to an appearance on WPR's Higher Ground with Jonathan Overby in December 2005. CSN also provided Carley with a chance to appear at Summerfest, the world's largest and longest-running music festival, in July of 2006. She released her solo debut, Still Life, and took it on her first solo tour around Wisconsin and into Chicago, on which the Summerfest gig was a stop. With music on her mind, Carley relocated to Portland, Oregon. Taking advantage of being the newest small fish in an impressive pond, she attended music school in the 2006-2007 year, where she met friend and future bandmate Kyle Lange. She continued to work on her solo writing as she and Lange started Barons In Trees, an intellectual-art-jazz group that features cello and clarinet. Now, with the Barons' self-titled EP released, Carley has released her own EP highlighting music that has been recorded entirely on her computer. She is quick to mention that every instrument, real and digital, is played by her alone (with the exception of a drum loop or two). It is a testament to her DIY spirit; every song was played, recorded, and mixed by her; the CD design was hand-drawn by her; every CD is hand-assembled by her. The Carley Baer EP comes as an intermediary effort bridging Still Life and her follow-up full-length album, Ordinary Stone. Slated for a release sometime in 2008, OS promises to be a significant departure from the stripped-down, soul-baring sound of Still Life. This year will also find Carley back in her home state, taking the EP on a tour of her old stomping grounds in late May and early June. Dates are TBA, but will include stops in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Chicago, and Madison. Until then, Carley intends to keep moving around Portland, soaking up the vibrant music scene and doing what she loves best: writing and singing her heart out.