Back in 2003, when Sufjan Stevens released his album-length homage to his home state, "Michigan," the indie multi-instrumentalist told journalists that he intended to give the same treatment to every state in the union. For a moment, it seemed like he was serious about the so-called "Fifty States Project": 2005 saw the release of Stevens' breakout record, "Illinois," which, like "Michigan," interwove state heritage and personal history to rich effect. Yet when Stevens announced that his next project would be not another state album, but rather an orchestral suite inspired by New York City's Brooklyn-Queens Expressway ("The BQE"), the musician, never one to be pigeonholed, told the Guardian newspaper that the 50-states idea had been nothing more than "a promotional gimmick."

We're not so sure. Whether writing about his home state or the expressway that cuts through his adopted borough of Brooklyn, place seems to have a persistent pull on Stevens, who headlines Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on June 8. His latest record, "Carrie & Lowell," finds the songwriter again looking for meaning in a locale -- and this time around, it happens to be Oregon.

"Carrie & Lowell," released in March, is a vastly more personal album than, say, "Illinois." It deals with the death of Stevens' estranged, mentally ill mother. On previous state records there were musical bells and conceptual whistles festooning -- and perhaps disguising -- any personal sentiment, but here there is only sparse acoustic instrumentation and Stevens' raw, at times painful, processing of his mom's passing.

Still, this is in effect the Oregon installment in the Fifty States Project. Stevens spent a few summers in Oregon as a child, visiting his then-Eugene-based mother and stepfather (their names are Carrie and Lowell). The state acts as the backdrop to some of his only memories of his oft-absent mom, and "Carrie & Lowell" is replete with references to its geography and history. The album was also recorded in part in Oregon, at Portland's Flora Studios and on an iPhone in a Klamath Falls hotel room.

Below, we map Stevens' local allusions, from the Death with Dignity Act to the Lost Blue Bucket Mine.

1. Death with Dignity Act

The title of the opening track on "Carrie & Lowell" is "Death with Dignity," a clear reference to Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. The law was the first in the nation to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

2. Vaux's swifts

"Chimney swift that finds me, be my keeper" -- from "Death with Dignity"

Likely an allusion to the Vaux's swifts that roost in the chimney of University of Oregon's Agate Hall each night in September. (Portland's Chapman Elementary is the best-known swift-roosting site in Oregon, but Stevens spent most of his time in Eugene.)

3. "Oregon breeze"

"I'm light as a feather/ I'm bright as the Oregon breeze" -- from "Should Have Known Better"

4. Spencer Butte Park

"Found myself on Spencer's Butte [sic]/ Traced your shadow with my shoe" -- "All of Me Wants All of You"

5. Eugene

One of the songs on "Carrie & Lowell" is titled "Eugene." Stevens' mother and stepfather lived in Eugene at the time he visited them in Oregon.

6. Emerald Park

"Emerald Park/ Wonders never cease/ The man who taught me to swim, he couldn't quite say my first name/ Like a father, he led community water on my head/ And he called me 'Subaru'" -- "Eugene"

Given Stevens' numerous other Eugene references, this is probably an allusion to Eugene's Emerald Park, where there is indeed a pool.

7. "Hysterical light"

"Light struck from the lemon tree/ What if I'd never seen hysterical light from Eugene?" -- "Eugene"

No word on what the heck "hysterical light" is, or where in town you can find it.

8. The Tillamook Burn

"Well, you do enough talk, my little hawk/ Why do you cry?/ Tell me, what did you learn from the Tillamook Burn or the Fourth of July?/ We're all gonna die" -- "Fourth of July"

A reference to the Tillamook Burn, a series of historic forest fires in what is now Tillamook State Forest. Such fires are now understood to be a natural part of a forest's life cycle.

9. Sea Lion Caves

"Signs and wonders: Sea Lion Caves in the dark" -- "The Only Thing"

A reference to the famed Sea Lion Caves near Florence.

10. Meadowlark

Stevens alludes to the Western meadowlark, Oregon's state bird, twice on "Carrie & Lowell."

On the title track: "Carrie and Lowell/ Such a long time ago/ Like a dead horse/ Meadowlark, drive your arrow."



On "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross": "I slept on my back/ in the shade of the meadowlark/ Like a champion."





11. Painted Hills

"I'm painting the hills blue and red" -- "John My Beloved"

There's not really any blue in Central Oregon's Painted Hills, but Stevens' verb choice seems to make the connection nevertheless.

12. The Dalles

"Drag me to hell/ In the valley of The Dalles/ Like my mother" -- "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross")

In addition to the Columbia River Gorge town, this also evokes "Valley of the Dolls," Jacqueline Susann's bestselling novel about rampant substance abuse in Hollywood. Stevens' mother struggled with addiction.

13. Lost Blue Bucket Mine

The closing track on "Carrie & Lowell" is titled "Blue Bucket of Gold." That's surely a reference to the Lost Blue Bucket Mine, a legendary gold mine located -- according to one version of the story --- near Bear Creek in Crook County.

As the story goes, a wagon train of Oregon Trail pioneers discovered gold in the creek, but didn't recognize the precious metal -- and once they had realized their mistake, they couldn't find their way back to the motherlode.

14. Cottage Grove

"Under the pear tree/ Shadows and light conspiring/ Covered bridge; I scream/ Cottage Grove shade, invite me" -- "Carrie & Lowell"

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-- Jonathan Frochtzwajg for The Oregonian/OregonLive