Through the lens of some of Portland’s most influential music scenes—think Satyricon, X-Ray Cafe, and Jimmy Mak’s—Scott Pemberton has channelled a ray of sunlight he calls “timber rock.”

That’s the name of his latest album, which came out last year, but it’s also the name of the subgenre he is pioneering, harvesting funk, grunge, jazz, blues, and hippie jam vibes with the epic sweep of his roaring guitar.

The resulting music is both tight and loose; recognizable as part of a lineage yet unorthodox; full of evolutions and improvisational concepts that may come and go. For some bands, the live show is a place for experimentation, the record a place for distillation. For Pemberton, even the album is just a slice of time.

"I came from very much a jazz background, so I think I naturally approached the songs that way," he says. "Within jazz, there is more of a skeletal song structure, that then every time you play the song, you add the flesh.”

Born and raised in Portland, the guitarist spent time in legendary jazz drummer Mel Brown’s band and has worked with heavy-hitting blues and soul vocalists Curtis Salgado and Linda Hornbuckle.

But Pemberton also wears his classic rock influences on his sleeve. The last track on “Timber Rock,” for example, is a cover of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” This track, he says, epitomizes his way of approaching musical creation: play the songs live and see what works, both for the musicians and the audience.

“I think that’s part of what the audience enjoys," he says. "Every show is different. You might hear some of the same songs from one show to the next, but they won’t be played the same way."

Scott Pemberton—undoubtedly in his patented fedora and bushy beard—is on tour now and will be performing at Star Theatre on May 28th.