Shade. Food. Local music.
That’s what you’ll find at the Palouse Music Festival. The event consistently draws locals and regional visitors alike to the town’s only park, which is covered in shade trees and lined by the Palouse River.
What sort of music will you hear? A little bit of everything, presented by local and once-local musicians from the Palouse area, including:
Arman Bohn
Plays at: 11 a.m.
Music genre: Retro futuristic electronic rock
Hails from: Palouse
Favorite part about the Palouse Music Festival: Getting to play a
festival with the Elwoods
Day job: Computer repair (please don't spill your drink on your laptop)
Known for: My performance of "Mr. Toad" in the 1987 Garfield Palouse Middle School production of "The Wind in the Willows"
Bad habit: Saying "Jeepers" instead of four letter words when NOT around
my kids
Favorite ice cream flavor: Vanilla
Favorite refreshing summer beverage: LaCroix
Ideal summer adventure: Tubing down the river
The Cherry Sisters Revival
Plays at: 12:15 p.m.
Music genre: Fun folksy
Hail from: Moscow and Pullman
Favorite part about the Palouse Music Festival: The venue with its beautiful shade trees
Worst decision: Including “Delta Dawn” in our playlist. Now it gets requested, and we aren’t sure we really want to cover it anymore.
Favorite ice cream flavor: Hands down, it would be Umpqua chocolate peanut butter
Favorite refreshing summer beverage: We call it the Rendezvous Randy; it’s Grand Marnier, club soda, and lemon over ice.
Musician you’d like to meet: Merle Haggard
Last performance venue: A hair salon customer appreciation/wine tasting event in Rathdrum, Idaho (in a detached garage/shop)
Robin and John Elwood
Plays at: 1:30 p.m.
Music genre: Father/son duo, folk music
Hail from: One of us lives in Elberton, along the Palouse river. The other lives in Bellingham, Wash. So, if you took an average, we’re probably based in Thorp.
Palouse Music Festival tip: Hang out in the city swimming pool in the afternoon while still listening to the music.
Known for: John builds musical instruments, tunes pianos and serves as the unelected ‘mayor’ of Elberton, which is a ghost town; Robin works at a food co-op, repairs accordions and drives his twins around.
Worst decision: A couple gigs ago, we thought it would be a great idea to try a waltz we didn’t know on the clarinet and piano accordion. We won’t do that this time.
Shiloh and the Young Guns
Plays at: 3 p.m.
Music genre: Classic and western country
Hail from: Troy, Colfax and Oaksdale
Palouse Music Festival history: The band has performed at the festival since it began, has only missed two festivals in the years since; Shiloh’s father was the first MC
Day job: Making music and being a mom of two kids
Favorite item from the grill: Barbecued meat, especially any kind of meat on a stick
Musician you’d like to meet: Dolly Parton, inspiration and role model since the age of 8
Last performance venue: Rendezvous in the Park and Kendrick Memorial Pool Fundraiser, two weeks after the birth of her second child
Purple Teeth
Plays at: 4:15 p.m.
Music genre: Americana quartet
Hails from: Palouse
Favorite part about the Palouse Music Festival: Everyone who plays the festival is from the Palouse region, or used to be.
Worst decision: Jessie Twigg-Harris: Selling my first VW van. Tiana Gregg-Holmes, who had this same response to the rest of the questions: Wine.
Guilty pleasure: James Harris: I watch fringe science videos -- UFO's, bigfoot, flat earth and crop circles to name a few.
Favorite thing you’re listening to right now: Paul Smith: My 15-year-old son playing "Johnny B. Goode."
Musician you’d like to meet: Harris: Tommy Emanuel; Twigg-Harris: Ben Harper; Smith: Scott Joplin
Honeyboy and Boots
Plays at 5:30 p.m.
Music genre: Folk and blues (Americana), husband and wife guitar-cello duo
Hail from: Nashville, Tenn.
Connection to Palouse Music Festival: Courtney Blackwell grew up in Pullman; Drew Blackwell was raised in Mississippi
Most known for: Courtney is known for her cowboy boots; that’s why she is called Boots.
Guilty pleasure: Drew: ice cream; Courtney: Boiled crawfish
Favorite concert ever: Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford and Sons, and Alison Krause at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
Genre: R&B and 60’s soul
Hail from: Moscow
Favorite thing about the Palouse Music Festival: Sharing the ticket with awesome musicians
Known for: Heather Niccoli, vocalist: Owning “home&harvest” magazine and starting Little Shop of Florals
Worst Decision: Niccoli: Buying a "rare" chrome microphone stand on e-bay that turned out to be a common plumbing part.
Ideal summer adventure: Isaac Greenfield, drummer: Catching rattlesnakes and tarantulas in the desert
Guilty Pleasure: Niccoli: Ranges from daily YouTube karaoke, to late night nachos, to Damien Rice binges
Band you’d like to meet: Greenfield: Dr Teeth and Electric Mayhem from “Muppets”
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Palouse Music Festival
WHEN: 11 a.m. to- 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Hayton Green Park, Palouse
COST: $10/adults, $5/ages 6-16, free/ages 5 and younger
OF NOTE: Craft and food vendors will be on site, along with a beer garden sponsored by the Palouse Community Center
