Indie, punk and alt rockers will converge Saturday for the Barge In Fest, Inland 360’s annual showcase of Northwest music from near and far.
Now in its fifth year, the free, all-ages outdoor festival returns with more than a dozen musical acts on three Lewiston-Clarkston Valley stages.
The Barge In Fest hub is at the Lewiston Tribune, where bands play on the Tribune’s old loading dock. Signature craft cocktails, like the Thirsty Mary and the White Linen, will be back, along with beer and wine. Barge In Fest T-shirts with a vintage elephant logo will be for sale. People can get the word “Barged” stamped on their shirt at a silk screening booth to make their attendance official. Food vendors include Deeney’s Ice Cream, Crazy Good and Mariana’s Tamales. There will be a bounce house for kids and other activities and vendors. Bands will also be selling merchandise.
On the festival’s second stage, Smash the Skate III at Mtn Dew Skatepark in Kiwanis Park, hardcore punk rockers will punctuate skateboard competitions for beginning, intermediate and advanced skaters. Electronic DJs will close out the night with a Smash the Rave dance party.
After 10 p.m., it’s on to Hogan’s Pub where Curtis/Sutton & the Scavengers and Folkslinger will appear in encore shows.
Now that you know the plan, here are this year’s musicians.
DOCK CONCERT STAGE
Andru Gomez — Armed with no more than a guitar, a harmonia and some good loops, this Moscow-based musician is solidly rooted in indie Americana. Latest album: “A Good Heartache.” (5 p.m.)
Tons & Tons — This piano-driven, indie rock band got its start as a worship band at Resonate Church in Pullman. Catch them at the Barge In Fest before they move to Seattle. Members Eric Goodwin (keys and vocals), Luke Conley (bass), Eli Lines (drums) and Jacob Kappes (electric guitar) are influenced by “pretty much any British rock band.” Latest album: “Bright Outside.” (5:20 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbNRZrS0PPQ
Hannah Rose — Kimya Dawson, classic rock and folk music influence Hannah Rose’s mellow, indie ukulele songs. The Lewiston-by-way-of-Riggins performer is inspired by “the river and beautiful things and people” and likes painting, plants and Taco Bell. She plays under the name hannahtheoddduckling on YouTube. (6:10 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF5DkGNz7Os
Curtis/Sutton & the Scavengers -- They bare stringed instruments like timber wolves bare teeth, a critic once wrote about the Americana country blues band Curtis/Sutton & the Scavengers.
The fangs of the band are Charlie Sutton and Ryan Curtis, two Boise-based singer-songwriters who met on Craigslist.
Their musical bonds were tight from the beginning because of shared roots in the Midwest. Sutton lived in St. Louis as a teen and Curtis grew up in Michigan. The region’s historical musical influences, like Tina Turner and Chuck Berry, shaped the music they heard during their formative years, said Curtis, 38.
“There’s just a lot of heritage you pick up almost by osmosis and it influences you. I’m appreciative of those years in the Midwest because it’s not something you can really replace,” said Sutton, 40.
Their hybrid Americana country-folk meets swamp-blues sound evolved from that. When they met, Sutton and Curtis were each singer-songwriters. They quickly evolved as group.
“Your influences kind of melt together and it becomes something you wouldn’t necessarily do on your own,” said Curtis.
Joined by Sam Alkire on upright bass, the band released its first full-length album, “Whiskey Rain,” last year. (6:30 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4En4-deGcZg
Runaway Symphony --When Runaway Symphony formed in 2010 in Moscow, the band had zero equipment to record with, so its members got creative, cramming into tight places, like bathrooms, to trap the sound.
“We could only record a couple instruments at a time because our gear was so limited,” said Jason Oliveira, who plays percussion in the folk rock band with Daniel Botkin (lead vocals), Christopher Lowe (guitar) and A.J. Stevens (bass).
Later, when life took them to separate cities, musicians recorded their most recent album, the poetic odyssey “American Blood,” piecemeal, online.
About a year ago, everyone moved back to Moscow, except Lowe who commutes to practices from Spokane. With royalties from their song “Lie Awake and Dream,” they bought the equipment they always wanted. The song was featured in a scene in the 2017 movie “Father Figures,” starring Owen Wilson. It was from their 2013 album “Running South,” and in live shows lately they’ve returned to playing music from that era, because of its raw energy, Olivera said.
Botkin agreed.
“When we wrote ‘Running South’ we were all in Moscow … feeding off each other’s energy,” he said.
The band is finding a new place for itself where it got its start. People have married. Botkin has a daughter. But the music community in Moscow is the healthiest it’s ever been, Oliveira said, and musicians support each other.
“When I was younger and just getting started I thought, you have to make it,” he said. “Now, if it’s not fun, what’s the point. We do this because we love it.” (7:40 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsocAFwA1DQ
Beautiful Flaw — Made up of Lewiston’s Brian Baugh and “a rotating door of occasional hand drum percussionists,” Beautiful Flaw plays a wide range of indie, folk, blues and singer/songwriter styles. Baugh’s influences include the Beatles, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Built to Spill and many others. Latest album: “Thoughts on Love.” (7:20 p.m.)
Jezebel's Mother — “Bluesy-rootsy-lively-lovely” is the tight but spontaneous sound of Jezebel’s Mother, made up of best friends Carolyn Lochert and Janis Carper of Wallowa County. The duo is inspired by life and Etta James, Shawn Colvin and Bonnie Raitt. Latest album: “Real Pearls.” (8:30 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIzDj7wzsNY
Folkslinger — With songs designed to “break your heart or mend it,” Folkslinger balances “ambient Americano storytelling with textured tones of shoe-gaze psychedelics.” Made up of Mark MacMinn (vocals, guitar), Mike Mosher (guitar, mandolin), Keith Simon (bass) and David Balderrama (drums), this Portland group includes two L-C Valley natives, Mosher and Simon, whose past bands include Read 1984, the Murrs and others. Latest album: “Volume II.” (9:05 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZOQEgCO2Yc
SMASH THE SKATE STAGE
Swarm Beating — Sometimes called the “mosh kings of Idaho,” Swarm Beating returns to Lewiston with a new five-song demo titled “Trial by Combat.” The band’s sound is a trimmed-down mix of ’90s slam-style death metal and turn-of-the-century beatdown hardcore, leaving nothing but war metal made for vendettas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFNBVczFnkw
Drain — This five-piece, Santa Cruz, Calif., band comes to Idaho for the first time with its powerhouse mix of ’80s style thrash, skate sensibilities and heavy mosh grooves.
Jodie and the Fosters — The year 1977 birthed punk and the Ramones, and this year and style is emblematic of the new Lewiston band Jodie and the Fosters.
Tolls — Based in Eugene, Ore., Tolls is a relatively new group that mixes different styles of melodic hardcore reminiscent of the early to mid-2000’s.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Barge In Fest
WHEN: Saturday, June 30
WHERE:
5 to 10 p.m. Dock Concert Stage, Lewiston Tribune, 505 Capital St., Lewiston
4 to 11 p.m. Smash the Skate Stage, Mtn Dew Skate Park, Kiwanis Park, Lewiston
10 p.m. Hogan’s Pub, 906 Sixth St., Clarkston
COST: Main events are free. There is a $5 cover charge at Hogan’s.
Stories by Jennifer K. Bauer, Michelle Schmidt, Drew Evans
