Birds on a Wire Festival 2010

Pullman, I know you can't believe. Pullman, you have a folk festival. It's a pretty good one too. The first annual Birds on a Wire festival takes place on the streets of downtown Pullman March 26 and 27. They were able to get a nice group of NW folk and alternative acts, including the Maldives and the Moondoggies. They also grabbed a couple Spokane acts like Joel Smith and Karli Fairbanks.

In Spokane, tickets can be bought at the Empyrean. Also at the Empyrean tonight, Jason Dodson from the Maldives will be playing a solo show with Kasey Anderson and Matthew Ryan.

Lineup:

Justin Townes Earle
Damien Jurado
Joe Pug
Rocky Votolato
Horse Feathers
Sera Cahoone
Frontier Ruckus
The Maldives
The Moondoggies
Cataldo
Laura Gibson
Al James (Dolorean)
Final Spins
Stephen Ray Leslie & the Crooked Mile
Super XX Man
Avians Alright (Jenna Conrad)
Goldfinch
Karli Fairbanks
Pablo Trucker
Mike Kelly
Joel Smith
Hueco
Samuel Dickison
Tony Kevin Jr.
Low-Fi

PDX Pop Now!

Seattle may get Bumbershoot and the Capitol Hill Block Party, but Portland has been quietly developing their own summer festival lineup, plus the beer is better.

PDX Pop Now! (July 24th-26th)


This event is designed to showcase up and coming Portland bands. These Portland bands take over the Rotture for 3 days at the end of July. The fundraising events feature artists dedicated to Portland music like James Mercer of The Shins, Brandon Summers of The Helio Sequence, and Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper playing at the Ace Hotel. This Thursday the 16th YACHT, Point Juncture, WA, and Y La Bamba are playing outside Portland City Hall.

Bands:

Thrones, Menomena, Grouper, Laura Gibson, Explode into Colors, Dirty Mittens, Au, Red Fang, The Minus 5, The Shaky Hands

last.fm

Pickathon (July 31st - August 2nd)

Pickathon takes place out on Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR ( a 15 minute drive from my old high school). This festival features some of the best indie bands playing folk and alternative country music.

Bands:

Blitzen Trapper, Dr. Dog, Vetiver, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Justin Townes Earle, Elliott Brood, Horse Feathers, Alela Diane

Last.fm

Musicfest NW (September 16th - 19th)

This one isn't so much a festival since it takes place in multiple venues across Portland, but it definitely has a festival atmosphere and it brings a lot of great bands to town. Last year's was a lot of fun.

Bands:

Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, Monotonix, Bad Brains, Sunny Day Real Estate, Portugal. The Man, The Get Up Kids, Modest Mouse, Love as Laughter, more TBA

Last.fm

Blitzen Trapper was at the Crystal Ballroom for last year's Musicfest NW. Speaking of BT, they have a 4th live session up at Daytrotter. I've added the link to the other Daytrotter links.