ROAD TRIP!!  We're heading down to Portland from sunny Seattle to enjoy the first ever Portland Folk Festival, and goddamn if we aren't totally impressed at the scope of this event!!  4 Days, 20 Venues, 60+ bands??  And the best part is that you can buy a pass for the whole event and simply skip from venue to venue as you please. Otherwise, how could you keep all those events straight?

We'll be blogging about the Portland Folk Festival while we're down this weekend, and we'll even be "tweettering" (oh how we hate twitter). So keep an eye to this blog and our Twitter page.

Big kudos to the festival organizers for having the guts to move beyond the NW's obsession with indie music, and to include folk and traditional artists who are deserving of new audiences and new venues.  This looks to be a great event and we're happy to welcome a new folk festival to the Northwest. (Speaking of which... Save the Date for the 2010 Seattle Folk Festival, December 12 @ Town Hall Seattle).

Here are some artists we're looking forward to at the Portland Folk Festival, August 19-22.

Thomas Mapfumo: The Lion of Zimbabwe. Outspoken African musician who fused traditional mbira music with electric guitars and hard-hitting lyrics that got him banned from his own country. His chimurenga music has brought him all over the world and we're lucky to have him so close to home (he lives in Eugene!). He used to come in to the Buy & Sell Center in Eugene, where I was working, and  haggle with the owner. His band were the nicest guys ever. He is a real Northwest musical treasure.


Strange and disturbing video from 1988: Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited

Saturday, August 21
Wonder Ballroom
128 Northeast Russell St., 503.284.8686
doors at 7:30pm, $14 advance / $16 day of show, all-ages
 

Caleb Klauder Country Band. Caleb blew us out of the water with his powerhouse set at KEXP in Seattle with Joel Savoy and Jesse Lege. Now he's released his brand new roots album, Western Country, which we are luck enough to be promoting this month! Which means we get first dibs on streaming music from the new album, so enjoy!  PS: Go to our Listening Lounge for more audio from Caleb and many others.

Worn Out Shoes: Caleb Klauder Country Band

Saturday, August 21
White Eagle
836 N. Russell St., 503.335.8900
doors at 9pm, $6, 21+
 

Woody Guthrie Tribute Concert w/Special Guests. This is an all-star guest lineup, including Dan Bern, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), and indie-folk darling Laura Gibson. Since Portland basically gives birth to a new Woody Guthrie every day, we've no doubt that minds will be blown!
Thursday, August 19
Mission Theater
1624 Northwest Glisan St., 503.223.4527
doors at 7:30pm, $14 advance / $16 day of show, 21+
 

Earl White Band. Though Earl is one of the few African-Americans playing old-time music today, he's also a font of knowledge and stories about the music. We attended a house concert by Earl at Bruce Reid's house a while back and were ridiculously entertained by him and his band. Great stories, great tunes, so this should be lots of fun! Plus Mary Flower is a sweet country blues guitarist with a number of fun CDs under her belt. Don't miss this show!!

EXCLUSIVE Track from the Earl White Stringband
(Earl White (fiddle), Brendan Doyle (banjo), Dan Warrick (guitar), Martha Hawthorne (bass))


Killer old-time jam w/Earl White and Erynn Marshall at the 2010 PDX Old-Time Gathering
 
Saturday, August 21
Mississippi Studios' Bar Bar
3943 N. Mississippi Ave., 503.288.3895
doors at 3pm, FREE, 21+

Fast Rattler. We're excited about this band. Led by Utah Phillips son, Brendan, we're hoping that Fast Rattler will bring a new generation's perspective to Phillips' legacy and a fresh take on his music. Rather than going after Phillips' canon, young Brendan Phillips has worked off of obscure and lost lyrics that were never recorded or set to music by his father. This is going to be a very interesting concert and a must-attend for anyone connected to Utah Phillips music or looking to understand what his music means to a younger generation.
Thursday, August 19
Sisters of the Road Café
133 NW 6th Ave., 503.222.5694
doors at 5:30pm, FREE, all-ages

Alberta Rose Theatre. We're actually really excited just to check out this cool new venue in Portland! But luckily, our friends at the Portland Folk Festival have put together a sweet lineup for Friday night!  Don't know much about Celso Machado, but he comes really highly recommended. Bharatanatyan dance is always fun to watch, and Vagabond Opera represent some of the great neo-cabaret music and entertainment coming out of our region. I talked about them in a recent blog about the indie stringband Black Prairie.  

But supposedly the Alberta Rose Theater is just beautiful. 300-seats, great vintage building, I think after The Woods, this might become my new favorite Portland concert venue.
Friday August 20
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 NE Alberta St., 503.719.6055
doors at 7:30 pm, $14 advance / $16 day of show, those under 21 must be accompanied by parent or guardian
individual tickets for this event available in advance here
8pm: Tragos Amargos feat. Luz Elena of Y La Bamba
8:45pm: Celso Machado
10pm: Natya Leela (Classical Indian Dance)
10:30pm: Vagabond Opera
 

So if you're already in Portland, plan on stopping by one or more of these showcases! You can buy the weekend pass or you can by tickets at the door or at the venues' website. Hope to see you there!