Some Upcoming Portland, OR / PNW Shows for American Primitive Fans
Couple of really great acoustic / fingerpicking shows happening in Portland in July. If you're in the area, you don't want to miss these:
Thu July 9 - 8PM at Mississippi Studios - $20/$25
Sir Richard Bishop, Will DeLee (PDX) and Liam Grant (BOS)
Rick needs little introduction - famed member of Sun City Girls and one of the finest and most innovative guitarists alive. This will be his only Portland gig for 2026 and he'll be supporting his two most recent releases on Drag City - Hillbilly Ragas and Hillbilly Erotica (just out) - both highly recommend.
Leading up the third wave of American Primitive / acoustic fingerpicking style, Liam Grant is visiting from Boston for his first ever west coast tour. His most recent release, Prodigal Son, made Wilco's "Best of" list for 2025.
William DeLee is another fingerpicking player but leans more into classical / flamenco styles on 6- and 12-string guitars as well as the charango and ronroco (a more bass version of the charango) from South America. His new album Raynol Overlook just dropped on June 26 on Feeding Tube Records / Carbon Records (co-release.)
These are three of the finest guitars currently recording and playing. If you have any interest in acoustic guitar music, this show is not to be missed!
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Sun July 19 - 6PM at Leaven Community Center - $10
5431 NE 20th - corner of NE Killingsworth and 20th.
Iron Skillet, The Modern Folk, Watershrews, Suncook Symphony
Early show, doors at 6PM, ends early 'cuz it's a school night. Only $10, CHEAP!
Iron Skillet - Damon from The Snug Jess and the gang will be opening with some old timey / bluegrass / Americana spunk sure to shoot a spring in yr step!
The Modern Folk - Josh and the band have been delving more towards the indie rock side of things since the album they recorded in March but are just as likely to take a different turn just to keep people guessing!
Watershrews - Emmet, Skyler and the rest will lay down some long form, improvizin' free snoozlin' and doozlin' before merging into a set from:
Suncook Symphony - the infamous obscurantist group, headquartered somewhere in the Catskill Mountains, on their first and only west coast date this year. Friends of The Annex Blues Society in New England, this lineup will include a few local luminaries as well, laying down an acoustic-forward ambient / drone set that'll invoke the sounds and deep experience laying somewhere between Pelt, Spiral Joy and Black Twig Pickers.
Dress appropriately, the church does not have air conditioning nor insulation so it's like to get HOT in there for real, not just the 'choons. Fans, light clothing, cooling devices and lots of liquids mandatory.