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PICKATHON: It'll be a Damn Hoot!
Before the rains come and life in Oregon starts to suck again, country campers have one more chance to gather the family, light out for country and set up the North Face tents. Pickathon, a good ol' fashioned hootenanny at Horning's Hideout in North Plains, beckons scores of country, Old Time and bluegrass players this weekend. It's not Telluride and it's not Boulder, but it is ours.
The annual daylong music festival benefits KBOO, Portland's favorite way-left-of-the-dial FM outlet. Though the little station at 90.7 is known for extreme eclecticism in the music department, Pickathon fixes its focus on a rootsy world--within which, of course, there's plenty of diversity.
"We're covering more ground than your traditional bluegrass festival," says organizer and mandolin wizard Zale Schoenborn.
Pickathon keeps it simple: good music, good beer, good food and good fun. Twelve bands, including one secret special guest, will wail in the bucolic serenity of the Hideout, a rustic compound 30 minutes west of Portland.
Most of the dozen or so acts are homegrown, including good ol' local boys like Jackstraw, Pig Iron, Harebrained and the Dickel Brothers. The four guys who make up Jackstraw take bluegrass to a new level--this is definitely not your parents' washboard stomp--with lightning-speed guitar, mandolin and banjo solos. Pig Iron draws from the more traditional Old-Timey front porch fiddling and banjo work of the '20s and '30s, while Harebrained combines different styles from classical, bluegrass and swing to create a sound they call "Barnyard Trance Music." The Dickel Brothers fuse a seemingly punk mentality with a well-crafted Old Time sound. Also signed on to kick up their heels are renowned fiddler (and former David Grisman Quintet member) Darol Anger and singer-songwriter Laurie Lewis.
"We want to unite bands that don't get much Top-20 radio play but who have a face on KBOO," says Schoenborn.
Of course, impromptu campsite jam
sessions are bound to erupt spontaneously.
MacTarnahan's Ale will provide the moonshine, and food will be available for the rabbit-friendly and rabbit-hungry alike. The whole shebang kicks off with a Friday-night square dance, with the first band taking the stage bright and early Saturday morning (well, at noon). Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the gate; camping is free Saturday night, $3 each additional night.
Kim Nowacki
Pickathon goes down at Horning's Hideout, 21277 NW Brunswick Canyon Road off Pumpkin Ridge Road, North Plains, 647-2920. See www.pickathon.com for the full 411.
MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE NEWS
HISS & VINEGAR
THE FALLOUT
As the nation gears up for whatever the hell is coming next--war, we hear, against some sort of terrorist Amway--repercussions of the S11 attacks continue to be felt throughout the music scene. Tours have been cancelled, postponed and rearranged, mostly because of travel difficulties. The ever-brilliant but ever-troubled Soul Brains (a.k.a. Bad Brains, a.k.a. probably the most consistently screwed-up, self-sabotaging band in rock history) scrubbed their Sept. 28 Roseland show with the almighty Motörhead. According to a release issued by promoters, the Rastafarian quartet's religious outlook on current events (i.e., that Babylon is likely tumbling) and fear of flying led to its pullout. Of course, it's possible that lead singer H.R. is simply having one of his "spells." Seattle warhorses (uh...) Mudhoney have replaced the Brains that may or may not be Bad.
Perhaps the most sobering cancellation comes from Brian Applegate's one-man band Reload. Applegate, a mortician by profession, is going to New York to work on the victim-recovery project there. Thus, no Reload show at Satyricon on Sept. 28.
In a more philosophical sense, the events of the 11th seem to have reconfigured the rhetorical rules of popular music. Turns out that violent apocalyptic revolution isn't really that cool when it actually happens, and so many bands are revising their images and repertoires. Brit rockers Primal Scream, for example, dropped a song called "Bomb the Pentagon." New York scenester darlings The Strokes delayed the release of their forthcoming album to remove a song critical of the NYPD. A band with the now-unfortunate name I Am The World Trade Center has shortened its name to I Am The....
ON THE HOMEFRONT
With both the arts and politics in such a reactionary mode, it's good to see some make a stand both for positive action and rationality. (The fact that this responsibility is left to Portland musicians rather than taken care of by our Leaders more or less speaks for itself--but we digress.) The aggressive dub group Systemwide plans a benefit show called "Voices of Reason" at Berbati's on Sunday, Oct. 7. Proceeds will go to the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, the umbrella group of activists formed in the wake of S11, and to Education Without Borders, a group that works to rebuild schools in the African region of Somaliland. In addition to Systemwide, the show will feature the Haitian reggae of Napboule and the "outernational" turntablism of DJs S-Dub and E3. Besides these excellent musical festivities, speakers will endeavor to enlighten on the hot topics of today. Dr. Kazem Tehrani of the Iranian culture organization Persia House will talk about Islam and the Middle East. Mohammed Hassan of Education Without Borders will perform Somali music and talk about his group's good works. Activists from Portland Peaceful Response will also be on hand.
THIS IS THE END
As we speculated, alleged and insinuated in our nasty little way in this space a coupla weeks ago, Seattle's Murder City Devils are calling it good after five years of black-clad hell-raising. The departure of keyboardist Leslie Hardy and the forthcoming sign-off of bassist Derek Fudesco sealed the sextet's fate. According to label Sub Pop, the remaining four members of the band (plus their roadie) plan to continue rocking in a different form, under a different and yet-to-be-determined name. The band's next-to-last show EVER goes down at the Crystal Ballroom on Oct. 30.
LOCAL ROCKERS HAVE "BUSY HANDS"
Scan the shelves for new or soon-to-arrive releases by Portland artists Helio Sequence (Young Effectuals, Cavity Search Records, Oct. 9), King Louie One Man Band (Jesus Loves My One Man Band, Extra Ball Records, out now) and Fireballs of Freedom (Welcome to the Octagon, Estrus Records, Oct. 23). Hey, musicians--if you have a record coming out, let us know, and we will tell the People.
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WWeek 2015