Hometown: Denver, CO

The Yawpers craft tunes that are engrossed in creative context. Some might recall edges of the mid-1900s Delta blues, but only if those lived-in riffs were played by the MC5, broadcast through booming stadium speakers and drenched with pounds of fuzzy distortion and full-throttled punk rock energy. They conduct parallel frequencies with the ferocious and raw proletarian roots of Uncle Tupelo, the burning-hot thrashings and cavernous sonic space of Hot Snakes, and mix in derisive scrutiny that brings to mind Ween or the Minutemen (and might we add that Cook is the spitting image of D. Boon).

The Yawpers’ third album Boy in a Well is a sensational tragedy set in World War I France about a mother abandoning her unwanted newborn child. But, like the band itself, there’s so much more roiling beneath the surface.

Recorded in Chicago by Alex Hall (JD McPherson, Pokey LaFarge, The Cactus Blossoms, The Flat Five) at Reliable Recordings with production assistance and instrumental contributions from Tommy Stinson (The Replacements, Bash & Pop), Boy in a Well stretches The Yawpers’ sound and ambition in challenging, impassioned, and dynamic directions. To follow up their 2015 Bloodshot debut American Man — which Rolling Stone described as mixing “high-brow smarts with down-home stomp” — the trio left the comfort zone of their Denver hometown in September 2016 to record in a city they’d only briefly visited before.

The story-vision was initially conjured by lead singer Nate Cook, after a reckless combination of alcohol, half a bottle of Dramamine, and an early morning flight. The delusional result is an album of complete immersion and instinct, with personal background (the story removes shrapnel embedded from Cook’s failed marriage) meeting psychological fascinations (German realpolitik, Freud, Oedipus, and the lasting social and cultural fallout of WWI… you know, the usual rock ’n’ roll stuff). Structured, composed songwriting from the band’s freakishly tight backbone — guitar prodigy Jesse Parmet and bulldozing drummer Noah Shomberg — blend with the impulsiveness of their wild-eyed, punk-reincarnation-of-Elvis frontman.

Boy in a Well sounds like Alan Lomax using his field recorder to capture Mance Lipscomb ripping a laced joint (or something much more potent) with The Cramps and strapping their instruments on to let that shit fly. But while the band dials into the finest, frenetic trucker-speed induced scuzz blues, there is patience and dark soul within and between songs much like the blank space between paragraphs and chapters. Each track is a division of the plot — paired visually with an accompanying comic book, illustrated by J.D. Wilkes of The Legendary Shack Shakers — that seamlessly blends into the next.

Also set for release this year is a 7" single featuring "Mon Dieu" from Boy in a Well and a new recording of a Yawpers live show calling card, their manic cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades." The band has previously released two full length-albums (their Bloodshot debut American Man and the 2012 self-released album Capon Crusade), a self-released EP (Savage Blue), and a bootleg covers record (Good Songs/Shitty Versions). The band's music has been praised by publications like Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The AV Club, Consequence of Sound, Nerdist, and American Songwriter, and has taken the stage with Lucero, Tommy Stinson's Bash & Pop, DeVotchka, Supersuckers, The Blasters, and more. In 2015, they were the house band at TEDx Kansas City and soundtracked an episode of Bill Weir's The Wonder List on CNN — the episode was about the Colorado River. 

The Yawpers formed in 2011 when Parmet and Cook played together at the only speakeasy in Boulder, CO. They added a drummer to the mix and a new trio was born. The band’s name is a nod to Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”: “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”   Artist Website

The Macks
“I can’t tell if you’re a wet dream or a nightmare” - fan in Corvallis. 

The Macks are a young 4-piece garage rock and roll band from Portland, OR.  The Macks play fast, The Macks play loud, and The Macks will get you moving one way or another. Featuring vocalist Sam Fulwiler, guitarist Ben Windheim, drummer Joe Windheim, and bassist Bailey Sauls, the band offers kinetic, passionate, and impossible-to-predict live shows. The music ranges from sinister to sarcastic, playing off of the angsty vocals and the rowdy blues guitar. Anything is on the table at a show, including but not limited to: stage dives, public displays of affection, youthful exuberance, partial nudity, and whomping solos. 

Since their debut EP “Happy Camper”, released August 2016, the band has been hard at work building their presence, completing their first Northwest tour, and recording their debut album “Camp Poppa”, slated for release with an accompanying Southwest tour late 2017. 

Forty Feet Tall
Forty Feet Tall is a riff based, hard rock band—think The Black Keys meet Jack White, with a touch of Soundgarden. After a performance hiatus during which the band received multiple film and TV placements, including two spots on Showtime’s “Shameless,” FFT is again ready to play live and introduce it’s sound to the Pacific Northwest. With Cole Gann on vocals and guitar, Jack Sehres on guitar, Steven Driscoll on drums and Brett Marquette on bass, they’re excited to call Portland home.