Today in (Northwest) Music: Yes, yes, yes, it’s the summer festival

West Seattle Summerfest 2006
photo by Chas Redmond
Once the heat turns up in Seattle, you know it’s festival time in the Northwest. Seattleites crawl out of their damp caves for various music and arts festivals, like the Bite of Seattle and Bumbershoot. Put on your sunblock, ‘cause there’s a lot coming up:

West Seattle Summerfest (July 13-15):

Fortunately, Seattle’s heat wave -- yesterday had a record high of 97 (and keep in mind, people, there ain’t now air conditioners here) -- will take a brief respite for this weekend’s West Seattle Summerfest. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 70′s should make the free, 3-day street fair fun for all. Right in the heart of West Seattle, at SW Alaska & California SW, you can shop at a farmer’s market, enjoy arts workshops, check out a car shop sponsored by Rat City Rollergirls, and hear great live music from the likes of The Blakes, Carrie Akre, Christy McWilson, Peter Parker, The Purrs, Mark Pickerel, Awesome, Downpilot, and many others. KEXP’s own Greg Vandy, host of The Roadhouse, will spin on the North Stage on Saturday night.

The Purrs - Get On With Your Life (MP3)
Mark Pickerel - Graffiti Girl (MP3)

Seattle Music Fest (August 2007):

Unfortunately, the Seattle Music Fest at Alki Beach, usually scheduled for August, has been canceled for the third year in a row. Hopefully, the non-profit Northwest Programs for the Arts will pull together enough donor support and sponsorship to get running again.

The Bite of Seattle (July 20-22)

Unless smooth jazz is your thing, you’ll want to go more for the food and wine tasting than for the music. The free festival features all kinds of eats presented by local chefs and tastemakers in the always beautiful setting of the Seattle Center. Go to the Bite’s website for more info.

Capitol Hill Block Party (July 27-28)

Of course you can’t miss this KEXP sponsored event at the end of the month, with over 40 bands on 3 stages in 2 days. In what promises to be the biggest block party yet, you can see Spoon, Silversun Pickups, Blue Scholars, The Saturday Knights, Girl Talk, The Blakes, The Shackeltons, Grand Archives, The Cave Singers, Aesop Rock, John Vanderslice and many others. Buy tickets now!

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (MP3)
Girl Talk - Hold Up (MP3 and interview)

Bumbershoot (September 1-3):

Seattle’s big music and arts festival, Bumbershoot, isn’t yet for a couple months, but you can still buy tickets now. After today, ticket prices go up to $30/day, still a bargain, but not quite the savings you get if you take advantage of our Insider Discount and get yours for only $25/day. These prices can’t be beat when you consider the lineup!

Be sure to subscribe to our Music That Matters podcasts because tomorrow, Kevin Cole presents his yearly “Bumbershoot 101” podcast, featuring bands scheduled to perform at the festival this year, such as The Shins, DeVotchKa, Steve Earle, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Gabriel Teodros, and many more!

Here’s a quality video of Blue Scholars performing “No Rest For The Weary” in their opening set for Kanye West at the Bumbershoot mainstage:

MusicfestNW, Portland (September 6-9):

Cripes! The lineup this year is incredible! The Willamette Week sponsored festival has seen 100% growth over the past year and now features high caliber national acts alongside excellent local ones.

At various venues around town, you can see performances by Spoon, Aesop Rock, Wolf Parade, Clipse, The Thermals, Girl Talk, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Roky Erickson, Okkervil River, Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter, Patterson Hood (Drive By Truckers, Jason Lytle (Granddaddy), Lifesavas, Blue Scholars, Dan Deacon, Eric Bachmann, Viva Voce, Sky Cries Mary, and too many others to list.

$40 gets you a wristband for four days. Check out the schedule and get more information here.

Deerhunter - Wash Off (MP3)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Cold To The Touch (MP3)
Roky Erickson - Don’t Slander Me (MP3)
[thanks to Rock Sellout!]

If you’re up for going out this weekend and hearing great music, but you’re not up for festival-size crowds, head on over to the Blue Moon, on 45th in the U District, for Sound on the Sound’s Northwest Showcase featuring Junkface, The Femurs, and The Sparrows on Saturday, July 14. The show starts at 10pm, and it’s free! Junkface - Leading You On [KPSU] (MP3) The Femurs - Not Giving Up (MP3)

By the way, over at Portland blog Pampelmoose, Dave Allen has completed his 12-song offering of a Gang of Four bootleg (Dave is G4′s bassist, by the way). Just recently, he posted a video interview he did with Blitzen Trapper at Sasquatch.