Requiem

Michael Hurley Was the Folk Hero of Portland

Novelist Justin Taylor remembers the cherished songwriter, who named Sweedeedee, was a LaurelThirst regular, and filled out Mississippi Records’ catalog.

08/11/2025 By Justin Taylor

all that jazz

What to See at the 2025 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival

Erykah Badu headlines 10 days of jazz concerts across the city.

02/10/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Album Review

Haley Heynderickx’s Seed of a Seed Is Worth the 6-Year Wait

The Portland singer-songwriter confronts a self fractured by fame in her first album since achieving it.

11/01/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Food & Music

What Food Do You Pair with Esperanza Spalding? Elliott Smith? Aminé?

Pickathon's Curation series partners musicians and chefs on the precipice of stardom for a dreamy fan experience.

08/01/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Music

Portland Monthly’s Essential Spring 2023 Playlist

Days are getting longer, bees are buzzing, Margo Cilker is crooning, and Yeat’s bars are flowing. Loves, good and bad, old and new, fill out our spring tunes.

03/20/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Music

Portland Monthly’s Essential Winter 2022 Playlist

Fire tunes from Portlanders old and new to keep the season warm.

12/20/2022 By Conner Reed

Music

Portland Monthly’s Essential Fall 2022 Playlist

Lush, autumnal tracks from Portlanders including Dead Moon, Rasheed Jamal, Dakota Theim and more.

10/14/2022 By Conner Reed

Music

Portland Monthly’s Essential Winter Playlist

Reimagined holiday classics, warm Americana, and rainy hip-hop by homegrown talent to keep you warm

12/03/2020 By Conner Reed

Music

10 Portland Bands You Need to Hear Right Now

From hip-hop phenoms to sweet-voiced doom rockers, these are the musicians soundtracking our city in 2018.

08/14/2018 By Fiona McCann, Rebecca Jacobson, Sam Pape, and Benjamin Tepler

Children's Books

Musician Laura Veirs Switches Gears for New Kids' Book on Elizabeth Cotten

The Portlander talks research, the power of art, and the need for cultural respect when telling people's stories.

03/15/2018 By Sarah Hutchins

Music

Portland Folk Duo Lenore Is Ready to Roar

Rebecca Marie Miller and Joy Pearson make sweet, fierce harmonies on their forthcoming debut album.

07/18/2017 By Bryanna Briley

Music

Meet Kevin Burke, Portland's Giant of Traditional Irish Music

For nearly 40 years, the fiddle player has called the Rose City home.

02/20/2017 By Stephen Phillips

Album Review

Blind Pilot’s And Then Like Lions and the Nature of Grief

On their third album, the local band digs deep into an often beautiful exploration of loss.

10/26/2016 By Rachel Ritchie

MUSIC

Pickathon 2016: The Music, the Magic, the Photos to Prove It

Our Pickathon weekend in pictures.

08/10/2016 By Portland Monthly Staff

MUSIC

Folk Star Laura Gibson Scores PHAME's Next Musical

The nonprofit celebrating actors with developmental disabilities gets some fresh tunes for their next production, Up the Fall.

07/20/2015 By Ramona DeNies

LONG STORY SHORT

Portland Singer-Songwriter Vikesh Kapoor's Journey from Punk to Folk

The Pennsylvania native shares his love of universal storytelling, his parents' immigrant experience, and Craigslist jobs.

02/19/2015 By Zach Dundas