Best New Bands

Every year we introduce you to 10 new bands singing, shredding and shouting their way to community.

For over 20 years, WW has polled the people who care most passionately about local music about which acts lifted them off the floor of the club and into musical nirvana. Over the years, winners have included artists and groups that skyrocketed to national fame—including Aminé and Dolphin Midwives—and others you’ve never heard of. (But we still have their early stuff.) In this annual package, we highlight 10 bands defining Portland's music scene. Then we put 5 of them onstage for a showcase.