Portland Invasion

Turns out that the Pacific Northwest is a bubbling cauldron of activity in the folk music world. Leading this vibrant community of square dancers and bluegrass fanatics, The Water Tower Bucket Boys have a unique vision of traditional music in a brand-new century. They know the roots of the music inside and out and have stayed up through many an all-night picking party. But don’t forget that they’ve been raised on raging punk music just as much as Tommy Jarrell, and half the band have received jazz degrees in university. Put that together with the wanderlust of youth that has carried them throughout Europe and across the US, and you get their wildly eclectic vision of folk music for the 21st century; dominated as much by psychedelic music and punk rock as old 78 recordings and toothless fiddle masters. The Water Tower Bucket Boys bring a no-holds-barred approach to the music in their attempt to share the joy and exuberance of American folk traditions with a new generation.

Erik Clampitt is the very reason we started this Portland Invasion show, because of him and the other 100+ hillbilly bands from Portland. They say Portland babies are born with an instrument in hand, however Erik’s introduction to guitar began when he was eight-years old. Ms. Roy, his second grade teacher at his Catholic elementary school, began teaching Erik her catalog of protest and children songs. Years later, Erik would find himself immersed in the Portland indie/pop scene, but abandoned it for the “lesser evils in life,” and returned to his acoustic roots. Erik co-founded Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck in 2003, continuously touring the west coast and releasing two full-length albums and multiple EPs. He later founded The Clampitt Family in 2007. Erik will be showcasing new material and dipping into his extensive repertoire from his former bands.

The New Five Cents are a quintessential example of the hard driving old time sound of the Northwest. From the heart of the scare dance scene in Portland, they deliver the classic full steam ahead kick-ass old time dance band experience. Joanna Macrae and Patrick Lind lie down the rock-solid foundations with bass and guitar and Gabrielle Macrae and Maggie Lind lead the way with ripping fiddle and banjo.