Lead vocals and rhythm guitar, songwriter
Star Anna was born and raised  in the small town of Ellensburg, WA. At the age of eleven she got her first snare drum, started taking drum lessons and began buying some of her first CDs at the local record shop. She formed a punk metal band (No Continuous Standing) with a few friends during her freshman year. They stayed together for a little over a year and took third place in a few battle of the band contests. During the summer of 2001, at the age of 16, Star picked up a guitar, taught herself some chords and began writing songs and playing local coffee shops and cafes. Star hit a rough patch that took almost two years to come out of, and when she did she went straight back to the guitar with a little more life experience and a stronger sense of who she was. After she came back to the music again, she started to develop a more alt country/folk sound. Her style has continued to change, never quite definable but still glimmering with her rural upbringing. Photo by Blush Photo |
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Lead guitar and backup vocals
 Justin Davis became obsessed with the guitar the first time he held one and still, after twenty years, is rarely found without one in his hands. Before finding a home with Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs, Justin played in several bands around Seattle, including Honest Abe, East of the Equator (with Nirvana’s Chad Channing), Queen Jane, Hanging Garden, and Puptulla (with fellow Laughing Dog, Travis Yost). Justin’s single-minded pursuit of total guitardedness led him to complete a BA degree in classical guitar performance at Central Washington University, took him to Spain to study flamenco guitar, and Cornish College of the Arts to study Jazz, all while maintaining a punk rock soul and a deep, religious devotion to Jimi Hendrix. Photo by Blair Hopkins |
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Drums
 Travis Yost plays drums. Less is more, unless Justin gets too excited during a solo and then Travis plays more. This is a type of schismogenesis. Also he can show you a really cool paradiddle-diddle-diddle beat, if you want. Travis has been playing in the Ellensburg area for the last 15 years with groups like Open Country Joy, Ravenwolf, Puptulla, and in Boulder CO with Newcomers Home, and many other projects near and far. "Star's writing and singing move me in such a visceral place. I remember walking down the sidewalk years before I even knew Star and hearing her singing and playing guitar outside of the cafe where her mother works and thinking, or rather feeling, that I had never heard anyone sing like that, it was just great, too great. I wanted to ask her if she wanted to play sometime but she looked so young and I felt i was too busy at the time with other projects, I had to keep walking. It moved me so much even then. I feel very lucky to be a part of this project with such talent." Photo by Blair Hopkins |
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Bass |
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