In 2026, Horse Feathers’ debut album, Words Are Dead, celebrates its 20th anniversary. Kill Rock Stars is set to release a deluxe reissue that will be completely remastered and pressed on an exclusive vinyl color. It will include a replica of their original six-song demo CD in the package, along with a deluxe foil-stamped LP jacket.
To support the release, Horse Feathers’ current ensemble of Justin Ringle (guitar, vocals, banjo), Nathan Crockett (violin, saw), Halli Anderson of River Whyless (violin, vocals), Kati Claborn of Blind Pilot (banjo, vocals, clarinet), and Luke Ydstie also of Blind Pilot (bass, cello, vocals) faithfully recreate the mood of the original release with taut dynamics and sensitive arrangements.
In the years following Words Are Dead, Horse Feathers quietly built a body of work defined by patience and evolution rather than reinvention. Records like House With No Home, Thistled Spring, and Cynic’s New Year expanded their sonic palette without abandoning the restraint that fi rst set them apart. By the time of Appreciation, the band had begun to open its sound outward, introducing richer arrangements and a subtle warmth that suggested growth without rupture. Through it all, Ringle remained a steady center, writing songs that favored emotional precision over spectacle.
The reissue of Words Are Dead does not attempt to rewrite that history. Instead, it brings the origin point back into focus, offering a rare chance to hear where it all began while recognizing how far the project has traveled since.
Revisiting the album now, with two decades of distance, reveals not just a beginning but a foundation. The same careful interplay, the same attention to space and tone, still anchors the band’s work today. In that sense, the reissue feels less like a retrospective and more like a continuation. A reminder that some records do not age so much as they wait for the right moment to be heard again.
The Hackles are a folk collaboration from Astoria, Oregon, the oldest settlement west of the Rockies, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.
The trio of Kati Claborn, Luke Ydstie, & Halli Anderson are slated to release their fourth full-length album I’ve Got Sugar, Who’s My Neighbor? in the fall 2026 on Jealous Butcher Records. The album was recorded primarily live at The Rope Room Studio in Astoria and departs from their previous two albums, A Dobritch Did as a Dobritch Should (2019) & What a Beautiful Thing I Have Made (2023), in its’ aim to capture the intimacy & energy of their live shows.
Kati and Luke originally met as members of the band Blind Pilot (with whom they continue to play), and songs written and gigs played in the downtime between tours formed the seed of what would become The Hackles. They met Halli when her band River Whyless toured with Blind Pilot in 2016. The trio started playing together when Halli moved to Astoria from Asheville, North Carolina, and Luke and Kati recruited her to play on The Hackles’ first album, The Twilight’s Calling it Quits (2018).
Powerful harmonies & an unconventional & nuanced use of guitar, violin, banjo & clarinet combine to create a compelling & unique brand of folk that lies somewhere between Appalachia and Topanga Canyon. Their songs are imbued with compassion, humor & a dark honesty.
