PDX Pop Now! is a local annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and a 100% volunteer-run registered 501(c)(3)

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization that organizes and promotes the festival event. It consists of a two-disc compilation released in spring; a multi-day, free, all-ages music festival in the summer; and school and community outreach programs throughout the year. The organization and the event are dedicated to "celebrating, promoting, and enhancing Portland’s vital and diverse

music community A music community is a group of people involved in a given type of music. Typically such a community has an informal, supportive structure. In the past such groups have typically developed within a town or school, where the members can meet physic ...

." The festival was first held in 2004, and has occurred every year since that time.

History

PDX Pop Now! originated from a discussion on PDX Pop, Portland Indiepop Mailing list, a long running

listserv The term Listserv (styled by the registered trademark licensee, L-Soft International, Inc., as LISTSERV) has been used to refer to electronic mailing list software applications in general, but is more properly applied to a few early instances of ...

for Portland musicians, fans, and writers interested in discussing the local music scene. On Jan 15th, 2004 Kell Dockham started a question about the sense of true unity in Portland music scene which ignited and inspired PDX Pop list members to organize a festival to celebrate local music. After two initial meetings, on Feb 3rd, 2004, Joshua Kirby sent out a meeting note to the PDX Pop list and pronounced the working title "PDX Pop Now", and thus a festival was born. This is how one e-email became a music festival. From then on members of the PDX Pop list formed their own PDX POP Now! board and committee, and worked toward organizing the first PDX Pop Now! music festival, which was held July 9–July 11 at Meow Meow, a music venue on Portland's industrial east side. In support of the large number of

underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...

fans, the organizers made the conscious decision to open the festival up to all ages. To prevent other barriers to attendance, they made a similar dedication to keep festival admission free of charge and to hold it at venues close to public transportation routes. To fund the festival, organizers curated a two-disc local music compilation. Subsequent festivals were held in 2005 and 2006 at Loveland, and in 2007 at AudioCinema. 2005, 2006, and 2007 also brought additional music compilations, for which the organization has received considerable attention from the media. Since 2014 the festival has been held under the Hawthorne Bridge in Southeast Portland. The festival was cancelled for live events, though it went virtual in 2020.

Musician support

A number of notable Portland musical acts have appeared on the PDX Pop Now! compilation or at the festival, including

50 Foot Wave 50FOOTWAVE is an American alternative rock band, formed in 2003. The band is fronted by Kristin Hersh, who writes the group's songs with collaborative efforts from the other group members in composing and arranging the music. The group's name is ...

, Alan Singley and Pants Machine,

Blitzen Trapper Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country music, country/Folk music, folk/Rock and roll, rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with ...

The Blow The Blow is an American electro pop band, comprising Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne. Maricich and Dyne write, compose, produce and perform all the music. It was formed as a solo project by Maricich in 2002, and she was joined by Jona Bechtol ...

The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy ( lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

The Helio Sequence The Helio Sequence is an American indie rock duo from Beaverton, Oregon, signed to Sub Pop. The band consists of Brandon Summers on vocals and guitars and Benjamin Weikel on drums and keyboards. History Summers and Weikel formed The Helio Sequ ...

, Hockey (band),

Lifesavas Lifesavas is a hip hop group from Portland, Oregon. Their style exhibits tag-team rhymes, matter-of-fact storytelling and a soulful production. The emcee's styles and song writing skills are showcased in the arrangements of a funky collection o ...

M.Ward Matthew Stephen Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 1999 ...

Menomena Menomena is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, made up of Justin Harris and Danny Seim. Both members of the band share singing duties and frequently swap instruments while recording. In concert, Seim plays drums, while Ha ...

Mirah Mirah (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on K ...

Quasi Quasi (phonetics 'kwa - zee') is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by former spouses Sam Coomes (vocals, guitar, rocksichord, various keyboards, bass) and Janet Weiss (vocals and drums). Joanna Bolme performed and ...

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

The Shaky Hands The Shaky Hands were a Portland, Oregon-based rock group, formed in 2003 by musician Paul Culp (Lonesome Radio Heart, Culpepper), and Colin Anderson. Nicholas Delffs joined soon after on vocals and guitar. They spent the next three years graduall ...

, and

The Thermals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site for PDX Pop Now!Portland IndiePop Mailing List
Music festivals in Oregon Festivals in Portland, Oregon 2004 establishments in Oregon Annual events in Portland, Oregon Music festivals established in 2004