Seattle folk-rock band is coming to Whidbey vineyard

Published 1:30 am Friday, April 10, 2026

A renowned Seattle folk-rock band just released a new album and will be playing on Whidbey Island soon.

Jessie Thoreson & The Crown Fire’s new release, “Return To The Ground,” is “a bold evolution in sound and scope,” according to a press release.

“The record finds the band leaning into collaboration, sonic experimentation, and elemental themes of decomposition, renewal and rebirth,” the statement says.

The band is playing at only five Washington state locations during the upcoming tour.

On May 1, Jessie Thoreson & The Crown Fire will perform at the Dancing Fish Vineyard in Freeland. Dancing Fish is a family-owned winery, tasting room and event venue known for bringing a wide variety of top musicians to the island.

The thematic backbone of “Return to the Ground” is rooted in Thoreson’s time studying wildfire ecology, where she has spent long days in the field and evenings writing in a small trailer or tent with only her guitar. Many of the album’s tracks, including “Ivory Closet,” “Tides,” “Multiplicity,” and “Worse For Wear,” were written outdoors.

“The record examines what it means to break down—personally, socially, academically — and what grows in the aftermath,” the press release states.