Do you ever have that thing where you've had a cold for a week and a half, but then you have to listen to At the Drive-In—just to make sure it still rules? I am here—wrapped up in a blanket burrito—fist-pumping this edition of Mercury Music Picks with the vigor of a one-armed scissor. In music news this week: The PDX Jazz Festival presale, deeply sold out Haley Heynderickx shows, one shot at seeing the At the Drive-In / Mars Volta Omar / Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala documentary in Portland, and more!

Erykah Badu at the 2025 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival

With its 2024 festival, PDX Jazz expanded what we expected from the beloved annual music celebration; it went longer and further—lasting for three weeks and bringing shows to Seattle and Bend. If you got to see Laurie Anderson's Let X=X tour in late March, you can thank PDX Jazz for that, too. For its 22nd year, the fest is going bigmode again, with a February 21 Moda Center show, starring otherworldly queen of neo soul Erykah Badu. While the 2024 festival headliner Jon Batiste quickly sold out the Schnitz, and Anderson filled the Keller, this will be PDX Jazz's fest-ever arena show. Badu's concert helps kicks off ten days of programing—February 20-March 1—that includes Terence Blanchard, the Philharmonik, and Ravi Coltrane paying dedicated homage to the music written by his mother Alice Coltrane, among many others. As part of promoting the festival, Mercury readers can actually snag early seats in the ticket presale until 10 pm on October 17; just use the code MERCBADU. The general public sale begins Friday, October 18. 

Here's the whole release of performers for PDX Jazz 2025, thus far:

Terence Blanchard ft. The E-Collective & Turtle Island Quartet 
Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science 
Christian McBride & Ursa Major 
TRANSLINEAR LIGHT: The Music of Alice Coltrane ft. Ravi Coltrane w/ special guest Brandee Younger 
The Altons & Thee Sinseers 
Andrew Cyrille Quartet ft. Bill Frisell 
Vijay Iyer Trio 
The Philharmonik 
Immanuel Wilkins 
Orions Belte 
Jazzmeia Horn 
Maurice 'Mobetta' Brown 
Larry Goldings + Melinda Sullivan 
JD Simo 
Parlor Greens 
Rogê 
The Arab Blues 
Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto 
David Friesen's Circle 3 Trio 
Lizzie No 
Jimmie Herrod 
Nik Bärtsch's Ronin

Haley Heynderickx

For those who have been waiting for new music from Haley Heynderickx for six long years, I have news for you! The Portland-based singer-songwriter has finally announced an as-yet-unnamed new album—UPDATE: it's called Seed of a Seed—due November 1,  and she dropped two stunning singles to get us through October. Like her critically acclaimed debut, I Need to Start a Garden, the new singles "Foxglove" and "Seed of a Seed" look to the natural world to ponder philosophical questions about love and life. If you're a fan of indie folk gems like Angel Olsen, Shana Cleveland, and Feist, then I bet you'll adore Heynderickx's emotive vocals. And if you're a listener of classic folk guitarists like John Fahey and Robbie Basho, you’ll appreciate her melodic and complex finger-picking. She will take over the Aladdin Theater for two nights alongside avant-pop harpist Lily Breshears (night one) and folk singer-songwriter Andrew Stonestreet (night two). Unfortunately the shows have been SOLD OUT since time immemorial. (Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Fri Oct 18 & Sat Oct 19, 8 pm, SOLD OUT, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Charli XCX & Troye Sivan Present: Sweat

At this point, Charli XCX's sixth studio album has left us with more questions than answers: Is brat summer dead? Is Kamala brat? What color is her underwear? The only thing I know for sure is that politicians and brands co-opting the craze are annoying as hell. Regardless, I've tried not to let it ruin my faithful love for the British hyperpop star. I will never claim to be an OG Charli fan (I hopped on board when her 2020 masterpiece how i'm feeling now dropped) but I will forever brag that I saw her at the quaint Crystal Ballroom before this massive arena tour. Charli will be joined by her frequent collaborator/BFF Troye Sivan for their highly anticipated Sweat tour. I’m praying for a mashup of "1999" and "Rewind." (Moda Center, 1 Center Court, Tues Oct 22, 7:30 pm, $99 & up, tickets here, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird

Portlanders have one chance to see this At the Drive-In documentary, and it's as part of the ongoing Latin American Film Festival at Hollywood Theatre. Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird chronicles both the flare-up of genius that led to one of the '90s most influential and respected post-hardcore bands and the friendship at its heart, between Omar RodrĂ­guez-LĂłpez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. One of the truly incredible things about this film is that most of the footage was edited together from decades of self-shot video captured by RodrĂ­guez-LĂłpez. It's not just youthful hijinks; it's electrifying '00s live sets, as the friends set out with their bandmates on a subsequent (likewise ground-breaking) prog rock project the Mars Volta. "We really wanted to make a film... where the music was the outcome of the life, not the life is the outcome of the music," director Nicolas Jack Davies explained, in an interview with Paste. Dolores, a stop-motion short by Mexican director Cecilia AndalĂłn Delgadillo screens before the feature. (Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, Wed Oct 23, 7:30 pm, $12, tickets here)

Joshua JosuĂŠ's Day of the Dead

There's a nice grab bag of Day of the Dead shows to sift through this year, but the Showdown's looks particularly legit. Jonny Franco and his real brother Dom open the bill with their malleable mix of sweet, catchy croons and stage stories that border on grift, followed by singer-songwriter Freddy Trujillo and violinist Patricia Rojas as Los Vencejos. Headlining and lending his name to the whole evening is Chicano Rock / Americana musician Joshua Josué, performing with local blues guitarist Ben Rice to (according to an email release) "deliver an unforgettable performance that blends stories of desert highways and Latin American romance with musical prowess." Josué included a little more, writing "I come from a long line of musicians hailing from Mexico and Southern California, and I will be paying special tribute to my grandfather’s band, Jesse León and his Tropicana Orchestra, which was one of the premier Latin groups in Southern California in the 1940s. Not only will I be performing songs from my upcoming album, but I will also be revisiting songs my grandfather and tío’s played in their band.” (The Showdown, 1195 SE Powell, Fri Nov 1, 9 pm, $20 in advance $25 at door, tickets here, 21+)

• Pickathon Early Bird Sale: In Summer 2025, Pickathon is throwing a pretty monumental 25th anniversary bash. Who's playing? We don't know yet, but for the true believers who trust the farm fest's curation implicitly, the early bird sale is on.

• Jeffrey Martin Records A Live Album: As music critic Ben Salmon wrote about last week: This Saturday, Portland-based folk singer-songwriter Jeffery Martin records a live album at Mississippi Studios, as part of his fall tour. Read Salmon's whole profile for more.