On Thursday, August 6th at 1:30pm, Deadair welcomes Portland singer-songwriter, Alela Diane, to KALX for an in-studio acoustic performance and interview before she plays The Chapel in SF on August 6th.
Alela Diane grew up amongst the winding rivers and golden hillsides of Nevada City, CA. As a girl, she listened to her parents harmonize bluegrass songs in the kitchen, and began writing her own folky songs when she moved to San Francisco at age 19. Since then, Alela has been releasing albums and touring extensively through Europe and North America.
Diane’s seventh full-length album, Who’s Keeping Time? came as the consequence of intuition, coincidence, and community. “I came to the end of a season last year,” Alela shares. “My daughters had grown a bit. I no longer had babies waking me in the middle of the night. I could hear myself think again.” More and more, those thoughts circled music.
In circles and ever changing, Who’s Keeping Time? is a musing on life’s seasons—fleeting truths of beauty and chaos. For 10 days in August of 2025, we made this record in the attic of my 1892 Victorian home in Portland, Oregon, where all the songs were written.
The scene felt kindred to a mouse house: a cozy world built of antique quilts, musical instruments, sound baffles, relics, marigolds, great-grandma’s dolls, old photographs, paintings and brightly colored rugs. Sunshine poured through the skylights as Maggie the cat slept atop the pre-amps and inside guitar cases. We played these songs together in one room: no click tracks, no tricks, and no fuss. This is music from the hearts and breathing bodies of human beings, imperfect as we may be.
Photo: Camille Bruya
