Premier Indie Roots Festival Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Photos by Tim LaBarge

The 10th annual Pickathon festival will kick off the month with a three-day event, featuring over 35 artists on five stages set among Oregon’s Douglas Firs, on August 1-3. Its third year at Pendarvis Farm (an 80-acre creative farm featuring meadows, hiking trails and forested camp-grounds) celebrating roots music in its many forms and taking a leading role in eco-sustainability, Pickathon is truly a one-of-a- kind festival.

“We’ve kind of developed this moniker of ‘indie roots’ a couple of years ago and have tried to highlight the differences within that umbrella and bring together artists that wouldn’t play together anywhere else,” Pickathon organizer Terry Groves told Performer. “A lot of these bands have never really been part of a vibrant, lively core group, but they all apply to the same core values of relevance and originality and the power of songwriting, and just the vibe of doing it yourself and being independent of the mainstream.”

Started in the late 1990s by Zale Schoenborn, Pickathon began as part of KBOO Radio, a community radio station in Portland, and was very small scale with upwards of 50 attendees its first year. Growing slowly through the new millennium, and breaking more national ground in 2005, Pickathon still benefits KBOO, but is now a destination festival, drawing half its attendees from across the U.S. – and a few from Australia.

In 2008, the organizers of Pickathon have placed an even greater focus on community support and sustainability. In addition to using solar energy to power the stages, Pickathon has partnered with EcoShuttle, a Portland-based company that uses 100 percent bio-fueled shuttle vans to transport people to and from Portland. “Our goal is to basically limit driving up to 50 percent because that’s really the biggest impact people have on this type of event – just getting there and getting home.”

This year’s lineup is comprised of about 30 percent local and 70 percent national artists, including Jolie Holland, Cave Singers, Laura Gibson, Langhorne Slim, Loch Lomond, The Old Believers, Justin Townes Earle, Bad Livers, Wayne Hancock and Red Stick Ramblers. “We pay attention to who is doing well and who the Portland scene really enjoys and try to make special shows with them,” Groves said of the booking process.

In addition to the annual Friday Night Square Dance and three days of continuous performances, there will be songwriting and instrument-based workshops all weekend, and musicians are encouraged to bring their own instruments as there will also be plenty of picking.

www.pickathon.com

IN THE NEWS

The Dandy Warhols will release their sixth LP, Earth to the Dandy Warhols, on August 19 via their own Beat the World Records. The tenured Portland four-piece took labelmates The Upsidedown and Monstrous along as special guests on a Pacific Northwest tour earlier this summer, then hit the European festival circuit last month. A fall North American tour with Darker My Love and The Upsidedown is on the horizon in September.

www.dandywarhols.com

Perhapst, the new band/solo project from The Decemberists’ John Moen (and Chris Funk in the live ensemble), will also see a national release of its self-titled debut on August 19, via In Music We Trust Records. Moen plays the majority of instruments on the album’s 11 tracks, with help from Stephen Malkmus, who plays bass and guitar on two tracks, and engineer Eric Lovre (The Dharma Bums).

www.myspace.com/

perhapst

Following a hometown CD release party on August 8 at the Aladdin Theater, the Portland Cello Project will officially release its self-titled debut album on August 12. The group takes an avant-garde approach with its unconventional set lists that include Guns N’ Roses and Britney Spears covers, as well as inventive takes on classical pieces. The release focuses on collaborations with fellow Northwest musicians like Laura Gibson and Weinland.

www.portlandcello

project.com

Horse Feathers joined their Kill Rock Stars labelmates Thao with the Get Down Stay Down on the road late last month, and will make their way down the West Coast with them early this month and part ways in Dallas on August 7. The band is touring in anticipation of its sophomore full length and KRS debut, House With No Home, due September 9.

www.myspace.com/

horsefeathersmusic

Portland’s System and Station will release their fourth full-length album, A Nation of Actors, on the ever-popular August 19 through Latest Flame Records. The follow-up to 2006’s Here is Now, the album was recorded and engineered by Larry Crane at Jackpot! Recording Studio. After a CD release show at the Doug Fir Lounge on August 20, the five-piece will embark on a U.S. tour.

www.systemand

station.net

On August 12, In Music We Trust Records will release the new album from Michael Dean Damron & Thee Loyal Bastards titled Bad Days Ahead.

www.myspace.com/

michaeldeandamron