9th Annual Pickathon Roots Music Festival

The Portland, Oregon, music scene has long been rooted in various forms of Americana. As the city experiences a folk and old time revival, its nearest, dearest festival seems to be enjoying the opportunity to spread its wings, stylistically speaking. The 2007 Pickathon Festival featured artists ranging in style and notoriety from Dale Watson to Langhorne Slim to the Flat Mountain Girls, and beyond.

Best of the Fest

It's impossible for one person to see and experience everything a folk music festival has to offer, particularly when the festival includes at least six stages sprawled out across 80 acres, various hiking trails, impromptu picking parties, a somewhat-circus school, and a workshop area.

That said, during a weekend stay at the 2007 Pickathon Roots Music Festival, it was possible to catch sets by artists ranging from what can only be called country-thrash (Reverend Peyton and His Big Damn Band) to sensitive kazoo-toting singer-songwriters (Ian Thomas), bluegrass troupes (Chatham County Line) and jug bands (Sasparilla Jug Band). These were among the best performances of the festival, but there was also plenty for the local Portland scene to show off.

Portland's Own Best Artists

Local trio Horsefeathers gave one of the most inspired and musically astute performances of the weekend on the Fir Mountain Stage Saturday night. Portlanders the Flat Mountain Girls brought he barn down Sunday morning, weaving through Vaudeville tunes and old time songs. Seattleite Jason Webley quickly became a crowd favorite with his audience participation skills, and Foghorne Stringband threw down on Sunday night.

What Pickathon Does Best

While other festivals draw bigger names and operate on bigger budgets, Pickathon focuses on what matters most: the best music possible. From 10 AM until 2 AM, the Pickathon stages are pumping with workshops and performances, both inside and out. From the small, intimate atmosphere of the barns to the relaxed well-hidden stage in the middle of the woods, to the huge mainstage with the lovely view, Pickathon is supremely well-organized.

What's more, the entire festival is about as ecologically friendly as can be. The stage is powered by a biodiesel generator, and all the lights are run on solar power. This doesn't just mean the stage lights, but also the trails of lights circling the entire premises, as well as the lovely blue and red lights hanging over the "food court" area. The sound system is also impressively well-run—quite a feat for an outdoor festival that takes place on the side of a hill, among other hills.

Things They Could Work On

While Pickathon 2007 featured some of the most outstanding collection of artists (there's usually someone who doesn't satisfy everyone; not so at Pickathon), the ordering of the artists was sometimes a little off. While the Wood Brothers, for example, are an exquisite duo performing lovely low-key tunes, they were overshadowed on Saturday night by the loud party going on not too far away in the barn (Reverend Peyton and His Big Damn Band, with Jason Webley). After a while of hearing the music pouring out of the barn, it became impossible to not leave the Wood Brothers' set and go listen in.

While it was pleasant to find so many vegetarian options in the food area, the amount of options was slightly disappointing. After one day at the festival, you can pretty much exhaust all the food vendors. Then again, this isn't a terrible infraction, since there was a fair balance between healthy, fresh food and deep-fried eats.

Pickathon may be on the small side, but it's an excellent community festival showcasing plenty of local, regional and national acts alike. The workshops are helpful and informative and the various stages are well-considered and armed with excellent sound systems. Born of a love for old time and its relative styles, Pickathon can easily grow into a fabulous overarching folk festival.

Now working on its 10th year, it'll be fun to see the festival grow and evolve. Regardless of how it continues to expand, it can't possibly lose all the excellent qualities that make it worth going back year after year.