Pick and Choose

IT’S BEEN SAID, over and again, that Pickathon is much more
than a hippie-granola music festival. But it bears repeating: Pickathon
is an absolute highlight of our glorious, blue-sky Portland summer.

Evolving far beyond its twangy origins as a bluegrass-tinged roots
music festival, Pickathon, now in its 11th year, embraces all manner of
musical styles, from the straightforward bluegrass of North Carolina’s
the Freight Hoppers to the traditional Cajun of Louisiana’s Lost Bayou
Ramblers to the backwoods hymn-rock of Saskatchewan’s the Deep Dark
Woods. For three days and nights, the green fields and forests of
Pendarvis Farm become the idyllic backdrop for a gathering of all types
of music lovers. All the performers rotate through six stages
throughout the farm—including the twin main stages, a barn, and a
stage out in the middle of the woods—playing multiple sets over
the weekend so that you don’t miss anything. And just a short drive
from Portland, Pickathon is an effortless escape for daytrippers and
weekend campers alike, to the sort of pastoral setting that’ll turn
even the most hardened city scenester into a laidback, barefoot
bumpkin.

To put it mildly, Pickathon is a good time. Check your
preconceptions at the gate, because it might be even more fun than you
deserve.

And it gets bigger and better every year. This year’s estimated
attendance will be in the region of 2,000 ticket buyers, a near-50
percent increase from 1,400 last year. The 80 acres of Pendarvis Farm
can easily accommodate the growth, and this year’s lineup has its
highest profile yet. Gracing the stages are indie rock heavy hitters
like the woolly classic rock of Portland’s Blitzen Trapper, the
Beatlesesque harmonies of Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, and the acid-caressed
naturalismo of California’s Vetiver.

“The indie rock bands have always kind of been related to the roots
scene because they, in a lot of cases, take that roots music that they
hear and broadly reinterpret it,” says Pickathon Director Zale
Schoenborn. “I think of Portland as a city that reinvents music without
having factions to beat them down, saying, ‘That’s not how you do it!’
If I’m at a three-day festival, I want to see all kinds of music, and,
for us, it is definitely a natural evolution to bring in indie rock.
It’s taken years for us to build that bridge across these different
music scenes that maybe aren’t used to playing at a festival like ours,
and I think nationally, we’re getting noticed for that. Plus the bands
are kind of ahead of the curve in hearing about music festivals and
wanting to play different places. So we’re having a lot easier time
bringing in people that you normally wouldn’t think would be a natural
fit for a festival like Pickathon.”

And it’s as much fun for the performers as it is for the audience.
Among the festival’s selling points for musicians is the camaraderie
backstage and the opportunity to mingle and see each other play. It may
seem surprising, but plenty of music festivals typically sequester the
musicians away in separate dressing rooms. This is not the case at
Pickathon, where many of the artists camp for the duration of the
entire weekend, often taking time off their tour schedules to do
so.

“There’s just an amazing synergy between the environment, the
people, and the musicians,” says Schoenborn. “It’s pretty common sense,
but with most festival grounds, you have limitations with security, or
you can’t camp; you can’t put together all the elements to reduce all
the hassles that come with festivals. You need electricity, you need
water, you need shade. Some festivals skip something like shade and
people just about pass out. They liked the music, but all they remember
is they got so sunburned and dehydrated that they didn’t have
fun. So any one of 100 things that could go wrong could kill your
weekend.”

The organizers of Pickathon have all these bases well covered,
understanding that the emphasis on setting and the overall experience
is essential for the music to be best enjoyed. Portland design house
GuildWorks is, once again, providing ample shade if needed—and
shelter from any potential rain—with a beautifully elaborate
network of lightweight fabric sails and canopies, while designers from
the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art are working on the lighting
and stage set. Meanwhile, the festival effectively strives toward
greenness with a free shuttle from the Gateway MAX station, local and
sustainable food vendors, and a solar-powered stage and lighting.

But of course, the music is paramount, and there’s plenty of it at
Pickathon. The setup allows—even encourages—wandering from
stage to stage. It’s an easy way to discover new bands, and the site is
both manageable enough to explore and expansive enough to prevent
feeling trapped in a specific place.

“One of the best things about Pickathon is not knowing all the
artists and being surprised,” says Schoenborn. “Having a little bit of
trust. If someone ends up coming because they like some of the bands,
and then sees a lot of these cool bands that they’ve never heard of,
those people are going to be excited next year to check out a bunch of
new music. But it almost takes them coming once. It’s hard to sell that
concept—come check out a bunch of music you’ve never heard of!
But then you’re like, ‘Wow, that is good! I don’t even listen to that
[kind of] music, ever—I didn’t even think I liked it, but I like
that.’ That’s the cool thing we love to do.”

Larry Gillis Band

Mountain View Stage, Sat 11 am; Galaxy Barn, Sun 1 pm; Workshop
Barn, Sun 3:30 pm

Clawhammer banjo picker Larry Gillis is legendary within bluegrass
circles, but even the most seasoned bluegrass fan may have never seen
him live. Larry and his brother John stunned audiences as the Gillis
Brothers with their hard-driving bluegrass, but quit the road in the
’90s. Larry emerged from retirement last year, and his speedy plucking
and traditional bluegrass is as authentic as it gets.

C.W. Stoneking and His Primitive Horn Orchestra

Workshop Barn, Fri 6:30 pm; Fir Meadow Stage, Sat 8:45 pm; Galaxy
Barn, Sun 11:30 am; Woods Stage, Sun 7:30 pm

When you think of the blues, Australia isn’t exactly the first place
that leaps to mind. Yet that’s where C.W. Stoneking hails from, raised
by American parents in an Aboriginal village. Stoneking’s hollow-log
guitar and lonesome yodel sounds plucked from a desolate crossroads in
decades past, but his hokum blues style is warmly human and
humorous.

Dr. Dog

Galaxy Barn, Fri 1 am; Mountain View Stage, Sat 9:30 pm

Dr. Dog can effortlessly pump a rock club full of energy with their
insanely melodic songs and the dueling vocals of Scott McMicken and
Toby Leaman. Seeing them pack a late-night hootenanny into Pickathon’s
Galaxy Barn should be a rare treat, and their set on the big field will
bring to mind open-air festivals of days passed. Their harmony-laden
retro-rock—a perfect marriage of the three Bs: the Beatles, the
Beach Boys, and the Band—just might induce a flashback or
two.

Alela Diane

Woods Stage, Sat 3 pm; Mountain View Stage, Sat 7:45 pm

The sometime-Portland resident is spending most of her time winding
through Europe these days—and who could blame her?—but the
coldwater voice of Alela Diane is still as utterly captivating as ever.
Her sound expanded on her recent To Be Still album, and her
vocals on Headless Heroes’ version of “Nobody’s Baby Now” made that
song one of this year’s best tracks. Saturday afternoon’s performance
on the Woods Stage will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see her
perform in a natural setting, surrounded by green and trees.

Foghorn Stringband

Mountain View Stage, Fri 10:15 pm; Galaxy Barn, Sat 8:30
pm

Portland’s own Foghorn Stringband are indisputably one of the
nation’s best old-time bands, a fact that’s easy to forget when you’re
living in their hometown. They’ll fit right in with the rustic
setting and laidback ambience of Pendarvis Farm. On Friday night,
they’re playing Pickathon’s yearly square dance with caller Caroline
Oakley. Think you’re too cool for a square dance? We dare you to
resist; once Foghorn Stringband starts pickin’ their timeless bluegrass
and ol’ holler tunes, you’ll be on your feet with everyone else. Sure,
the songs may sound older ‘n dirt—but don’t forget they’re made
for dancing.

Blitzen Trapper

Galaxy Barn, Sat 1 am; Mountain View Stage, Sun 8:30 pm

It may initially seem incongruous for Portland rockers Blitzen
Trapper to be headlining Pickathon, but their music has always
contained hidden depths and a genuine tie to roots music. Frontman Eric
Earley has seamlessly incorporated traditional folk and Appalachian
elements into his rock songs—in the past, he’s even opened
Blitzen Trapper gigs with a few solo tunes on the banjo—and last
year’s Furr album ran a huge stylistic gamut, from ’70s-esque
fuzz-rock to mellow campfire ditties. Their new EP, Black River
Killer, which has been sold as a CDR at concerts, hits stores in
legitimate form on August 25. Expect Blitzen Trapper to cover all their
bases over their two sets this weekend—or, to put it more simply,
expect great music from a great band, genre be damned.