Who’s Playing Pickathon 2025? | Portland Monthly
Maybe you’re working out a work trade for a free ticket. Maybe you’re splurging on an extra long weekend of fancy camping and dinners cooked by big-name chefs. Either way, the music at Pickathon (July 31–August 3 this year), the state’s most charmingly idiosyncratic festival, is the same for everyone. There are too many yoga classes, various somatic workshops, and sound baths booked between the bands to list here. Anis Mojgani, Erica Berry, and Jon Raymond are among more than a dozen authors giving readings. There’s also a structure shaped like the fest’s Steelhead logo which they’ve dubbed a “gravity pool” (we can’t quite figure out what it “does,” but it looks cool). And those aforementioned prix fixe feasts come from the likes of chefs Bonnie Morales of Kachka, Daniel Green of Bauman’s on Oak, and Cathy Whims of Nostrana. Dozens of family friendly events and performances oriented toward children fill out the lineup, too, including from PoMo’s favorite youth music nonprofit Friends of Noise. And about the bands. If you’re reading this, we’re guessing you’re already familiar with the biggest names, your Portugal. The Mans, Jake Blounts, and Haley Heynderickxs. So we opted to shout out a few acts from the lineup that definitely should be on your radar, if they’re not already.
Being Dead
Being Dead rocks. The Austin band’s chanty, thrummy, spaced out, disaffected, charging antirock owes a lot to the crown jewel of 2010s lo-fi post-punk, a band called Women. And there’s a tinge of absurdist jangle a la Syd Barrett’s madcap Pink Floyd. Its members are named Falcon Bitch and Shmoofy (formerly Gumball). Their latest is EELS, from 2024.
Glitterfox
Singer Solange Igoa sings with full-throated confidence that calls to mind Tennis’s Alaina Moore on all three singles that Portland band Glitterfox has dropped from its forthcoming LP, decoder, which is out August 22. It’s all warm vintage guitar tones warbling over a backdrop of synths. Watch them play “Passenger” under the St. Johns Bridge—bedazzled microphone and mullets in tow.
Hannah Cohen
Cohen lives in the Catskills in a ’70s house made over as a recording studio where she and her romantic partner, Sam Evian, a fellow singer songwriter and music producer, host artists like Cass McCombs, Blonde Redhead, and Big Thief to record albums. They made her latest album, Earthstar Mountain, together. It’s dreamy, cinematic, and sounds like it was made where it was made. Famous friends show up, too. Sufjan Stevens sings backup on one song. Clairo plays clarinet on another.
Michael Hurley Tribute
Did you ever catch Hurley’s monthly gig at the Laurelthirst? Portland lost its folk hero this spring, when the legendary singer and guitarist passed away at 83. At this tribute show, his longtime collaborator Lewi Longmire and backing band the Croakers will play host to a lineup of friends.
Reyna Tropical
Fabi Reyna, Portland’s very own guitar hero and the founder of the media outlet She Shreds, makes a music that is all her own, mixing several rhythmic, Latin styles with an indie rock edge (she played in Sleater-Kinney for a stint). Malegría, from 2024, is her latest album.
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