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Nolan Parker

Nolan Parker is the Mercury’s music and Blazers editor. They also run the Portland-area community resource, Government Palace. Follow them on Instagram and Letterboxd. Send pitches, releases, and collaboration ideas here.
Posted inPickathon

Pickathon 2025: 15 Acts Not To Miss As Chosen By a Festival Vet and a Total N00b

Struggling with who to see? Let our most-anticipated acts this year help make it easier… or way, way harder!
Avatar photoAvatar photo Holly Hazelwood and Nolan Parker

Described by most who attend with an almost holy reverence, Pickathon is an immersive, magical, and otherworldly music festival, tucked back in the woods beyond Happy Valley. Hosted at Pendarvis Farm, the fest’s programming is—year after year—some of the best in Oregon, 2025’s lineup is no exception!   It’s pretty wild, but I (Nolan Parker, Music […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: The Mercury Turns 25!

Plus Pickathon, international punk, queer rave, and more! 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Holy hangover Bat Girl—Project Pabst has done it again! Excuse us while we come down from one of Portland’s best music weekends in a long time. Real-deal punk, new and old, dominated day one, while perfect indie chill held sway over Sunday. Check out our day one round-up here. We’d love to drop a day […]

Posted inMusic

Project Pabst Day 1: DEVO Was Right!

Gustaf plays the rubber chicken, Iggy gets dropped, and Gouge Away are PDX-Based.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

The return of the hotly anticipated Portland music festival Project Pabst was worth the wait, paying emotional dividends with every set from Nasalrod’s massive opener energy all the way to Iggy’s closing words, “Fuckin’ goodnight! Fuck everybody!”   Greeted by the now iconic giant unicorn right inside the festival’s gates, energy was high even with the […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Project Pabst and the Music Videos of Kate Bush!

Plus a Portland supergroup album release and Lollipop Shoppe launches a free music series. 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

We in the thick of it now, y’all! Project Pabst and Pickathon are right around the corner, the summer concerts are heating up at the Square and Edgefield, and being in and around water is top priority.  Like many in Portland, I love cruising around the PNW in summer visiting friends and family, losing myself […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: There’re Still Deltron 3030 Tickets Available (Sort Of)!

Plus an African highlife legend, electronic music overlords, and Portland music news.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

The Mercury turns 25 this year and we’re throwing a big birthday bash at Polaris Hall on July 31! Pulling up to the function are Pure Bathing Culture, Nonbinary Girlfriend, and Karma Rivera, and you are invited! Sadly (but also happily), the show sold out in less than 48 hours and I didn’t even get […]

Posted inMusic

The Portland Mercury Turns 25–Come Party With Us!

Pure Bathing Culture, Nonbinary Girlfriend, and Karma Rivera are gonna be there too! 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Wow, time (non-linear) really just flies doesn’t it? According to the Gregorian calendar, the Portland Mercury is now old enough to rent a car! And that’s really saying something. Founded in the year 2000 by our still fearless leader Wm. Steven Humphrey, the Mercury has been reporting on news, culture, and getting into trouble for […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Michael Hurley’s Final Album and Patricia Wolf’s New Film Score

Plus free outdoor music and Missouri Executive Order 44! 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

What does it feel like to hear new music by a cherished artist who has passed away? How do we hold memories of a childhood we barely remember? Who decides how individuals identify and what we call ourselves? Heavy questions on a sunny summer day in July that certainly aren’t answered in this week’s Mercury […]

Posted inAlbum Review

Album Review: Patricia Wolf Scores the Documentary Hrafnamynd

Playful sonics swirl with the landscapes of Iceland and director Edward Pack Davee’s narration. 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

There is a sacred captivation present in the Pacific Northwest felt by many of those who call this corner of the world home: The powerful vastness of landscape, the diversity of the region’s flora and fauna, and the evergreen presence of water. It’s the birds of the Pacific Northwest that have captured the heart and […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Bijoux Cone Reunites The Mommys, Wu-Tang Brings Da Ruckus!

Plus locals Pale Violet, Shanea, and IX of Swords shred across Portland.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

What a ripper weekend! Homie Fest VI was everything it was supposed to be and so much more—the vibes were truly immaculate. Everyone who was there were homies somehow, and people who didn’t know each other were besties by the end of the second night. Music has such a powerful impact, able to form community […]

Posted inQueer Guide 2025

Be Gay, Do _____.

Welcome to the Mercury‘s 2025 Queer Guide!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Howdy y’all, My name is Nolan Parker, I’m the new-ish music editor at the Mercury, and I’m an absolute faggot—welcome to the 2025 Queer Guide! Queerness is expansive beyond comprehension, literally—there aren’t enough letters in all the alphabets combined able to describe our existence. We’re involved in every facet of every society, whether you’re aware […]

Posted inQueer Guide 2025

Battle of the Hexes

Post-punk weirdos Casual Hex hold a black mirror to society on Zig Zag Lady Illusion II.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Now split between Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma, Casual Hex return with new album Zig Zag Lady Illusion II—the politically charged sonic continuation of their first full-length. The new LP dropped June 13 via Seattle’s Youth Riot Records. The band has been quiet since the release of their weirdo post-punk monolith Zig Zag Lady Illusion in 2018, and—despite being […]

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