Portland's Folk Festival

An annual celebration of folk, Americana and roots music hosted by the historic Crystal Ballroom. See 35 artists on 2 stages with all proceeds donated to Sunstone Way and Music Portland.

Olive Klug

Olive Klug refuses to be put in a box. Working out who you are in front of an ever-growing audience is no small task, but one that the Portland-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter is up for and thriving.

Combining their knack for storytelling with a lilting soprano voice, Klug offers observations with an unflinching honesty. "I'll stop seeking to find, start saying what's on my mind," sings Klug on Out Of Line, the lead single from their 2023 label-debut album, Don't You Dare Make Me Jaded.

Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom

Powerful singer-songwriter

 "I worked as an actor for most of my life, which got me an electric guitar and a way into the music business in Brazil. I had wrote 50 songs by the time I was 16. I wrote songs for advertisements, short films, soccer teams and highschool crushes. I sang them to friends at their apartments or home-studios, then I sang them on TV with my band. Now I sing them in the streets to make a living. I had to fall in love to understand what's real. Then I had to leave my country and follow her to Portland."

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/johnnythefranco/

Free Creatures

Bass & riffs

Free Creatures was formed when Marv Ellis met Emily Turner, they fell in love, moved in together, started a hemp farm, and all their other music projects came to an end. As their dedication to their new life together deepened, they watched impatiently as their own bands drifted apart and their schedules opened up. This created the opportunity for Marv and Emily to spend time experimenting with combining their unique sounds and talents, mostly for their own enjoyment. As they began playing together and creating new sounds, they realized that their sound combination was worth sharing with others.

This innocent notion has since bloomed into an electrifyingly enchanting set of songs that blend depression era music samples with thumping upright bass lines, haunting ukulele riffs, thought provoking lyrics, and heart warming melodies.

Fox and Bones

Sweet delicate folk duo

Scott Gilmore and Sarah Vitort are Fox and Bones-energetic offbeat folksters with a retro pop-rock bent who have been setting the world alight with a handclapping, foot-stomping good time since 2016. The indomitable duo has brought their optimistic Americana polish to international stages shared with the likes of Rayland Baxter, The Dead South, ZZ Ward, The Talbott Brothers and Horse Feathers among others.

At Fox and Bones' core is an unrelenting backbone that represents honest-to-goodness folklore dreams, wrapped in the delectable shine of a duo with a combined 25+ years of songwriting experience. They're akin to Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Shovels & Rope as a relatable, soul-stirring, retro-tinged folk-rock outfit that knows how to shatter a crowd's hearts and put them back together all in the same utterance. Scott's powerhouse grit and Sarah's resonant tone combine with A-grade songwriting chops to create accessible, relatable, and often heart-rending folk-rock music.

Their hardworking artistic output has earned them first place at the 2023 Tucson Folk Festival songwriting contest and second place in the International Acoustic Music Awards, amongst other accolades. The duo also founded Portland's Folk Festival: an annual, three-night celebration of folk and roots music at the iconic Crystal Ballroom.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FoxandBones/

Website:

www.foxandbones.com

The Acoustic Minds

Soul-tronic dance-pop

Moody twinned soul/pop with future bass.
Compared to Adele and Sia, these power house twins have massive songwriting chops and vocals for days. Spicy production and all the things to say. Heart wrenching, soul filling music that urges you to do more with this crazy life.
The AM (Acoustic Minds) is comprised of identical twin sister singers and songwriters Jenni and Amanda Price. (Piano/Guitar/Vocals)

They have toured thru 11 countries and blend genres of edm, hip hop, soul and pop.  Known for their songwriting and unique sibling harmonies combined with 80’s synth and heavy bass. 

Their music touches on deep topics of love and loss.

Their sophomore album will be released in the fall of 2022 titled “Slip N Blush”.  

Website:

http://www.theammusic.com

Soundcloud:

http://www.soundcloud.com/acousticmindsmusicds

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/acousticmindsmusic

Arietta Ward

Local Powerhouse vocalist Arietta Ward has assembled some of the finest Musical Artisans to help her spread Soul, funk and positivity to the masses along her journey founding and fronting her own band, Mz. Etta's World. Her diverse musical background and versatility has allowed her to be able to perform in various configurations with many artists such the late Obo Addy, Linda Hornbuckle, Curtis Salgado, Ken DeRouchie, Tony Ozier, Farnell Newton as well as starting out with her beloved mother, Northwest's very own Janice Marie Scroggins.

With high energy, humor and passion, the unique sound experience of Etta's World will surely have you wanting more.

Website:

http://www.mzettasworld.com.

Jeshua Marshall

At 16, Jeshua Marshall formed the grimy, fast, and loud punk band Larry And His Flask. Larry later morphed into one of the most instrumental Folk-Punk bands of their era, touring relentlessly and influencing the genre permanently. At the closing of Larry And His Flask in 2019, Jeshua immediately poured himself head over heels into the next chapter of his musical life. He began focusing on forming his smooth, centered, and rough around the edges vocal style, and honing in on his honest and reflective lyrics. Jeshua released his debut solo album ‘Shoot The Moon' in the midst of the pandemic in September 2021. He continues to grow his fanbase in the states and internationally with over one-hundred-thousand streams on Spotify and Youtube. Jeshua recently received the Best New Artist award from People's Choice Award in his home of Bend, OR, and has shared the stage with artists like Dirtwire, Fishbone, Willy Tea Taylor, Possessed by Paul James, Bridge City Sinners and more.

Leo Moon

Leo Moon is the solo incarnation of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Brian Adrian Koch. California born and Oregon raised, Brian has been active in the Portland music scene since arriving in 2000. He is a current and founding member of indie rock band Blitzen Trapper (2000-present) and psychedelic folk duo Dead Lee (2018-2023) Appearing now as a solo acoustic performer, his minimal and haunting tunes are stripped down paeans to the glorious absurdities of life; harmonica spattered psalms to the void