“I’m a death-to-genres guy. I’m not like, ‘Let’s do country now, let’s do rock.’ It’s like, ‘Let’s do music’”: Is it country, bluegrass, folk, rock? The Rose City Band don’t play within a genre, but they do play with them

Rose City Band.

Sol Y Sombra, the latest studio album from Ripley Johnson’s Rose City Band, is a salve for tired minds boxed in by the desk and the clock. It’s a road trip for the soul, whether your body follows or not.

There are no unkind frequencies. Electric guitar tones are pristine, clean and warm. Barry Walker’s Sho-Bud pedal steel threads its way around Johnson’s guitar, its gossamer treble thread tying the songs together. The sounds are ostensibly familiar – country bluegrass, folk, rock ’n’ roll – but the presentation is fresh.