If you live in Portland or you are heading here for the MusicFestNW music festival, the good folks at MusicFestNW have ponied up a free wristband [a $60 value!] for the Moose to give away to a lucky winner. The runner up will receive a copy of a limited edition Gang of Four remix 7″ vinyl that includes a Tommie Sunshine remix of At Home [He Feels Like a Tourist] and a Blood Brothers remix of [Love Like] Anthrax, as well as a 7″ Your Friends Will Carry You Home single from Faux Hoax which includes a coupon for extra digital tracks to download.

Here’s how to win - leave a comment in this post responding to the following question:

For the free wristband: Which band would you guess that I would most like to see during MusicFestNW?
For the two vinyl singles: Give me your list of the bands that I should not miss during MusicFestNW.

Here’s the list of bands on the MusicFestNW site.

Remember to include your email address as I will notify the winners by email. [Don't worry, we will never spam you.]

Update: 9/9/09 9:18PM I also have four MusicFestNW CD compilations to give away. I will randomly choose winners from the list of “bands I should see” submissions. Keep this going, I’m liking the guesses and the lists. Thanks for participating.

Here’s your chance to get a professional band or artist photo for free. Photographer Tim Gunther is opening up his studio on First Thursday for a free photo shoot for up and coming musicians in Portland. You can reach him by email or show up at his studio on Thursday - I guess it’s first come, first served.. Also there should be a shout out to I Walked The Vine too..

Tim Gunther Studio
917 NW 19th Ste. E
Portland, Or 97209
[1/2 block south of Lovejoy]

The University of Oregon in Portland is showing a free screening of the documentary ‘Copyright Criminals’ and I have been invited to interview the director afterwards. The documentary takes a look at the many hurdles that hip hop artists, DJs and producers have to overcome to use samples of other peoples work in their ostensibly new or reworked versions of classic songs and beats. Those interviewed in the documentary include - Chuck D of Public Enemy, James Brown’s drummer Clyde Stubblefield and co-founder of the Creative Commons Larry Lessig. It also includes performances from Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Flash and more….

Wednesday April 15 @ 6 PM No Charge and open to the public.
The University of Oregon in Portland
White Stag Block
70 NW Couch St, Portland Oregon

“an amazing documentary on the history of sampling…it kicks
you in the head with how radically the sampler redefined
music…” Blender Magazine

Co-sponsored by the UO Portland Library & Learning Commons and the Portland State University Sociology Club. Promotional considerations by KPSU.

Mark you calendars for what appears to be a great [and free] show..
Sunday 4/5/09 @ Rontoms (600 E Burnside)
GROUPER / TINY VIPERS
FREE! / 9PM / 21+

Grouper.
“[H]ere I was driving in the morning past farmland north of Eugene, Ore… I kept seeing these small dirt storms form out in the unplowed fields to the left while the lovely “Fishing Bird (Empty Gutted In The Evening Breeze)” played on repeat. I’m not sure [Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Grouper's third album] is the perfect road trip music for everyone– I’d certainly caution against playing it late at night when you’re already sleepy, or operating other heavy machinery as it plays– but since these songs seem to appear and then vanish into the air, the mini-tornadoes gathering themselves together lazily out of the wind and the dirt seemed the ideal, hypnotizing accompaniment.” - Mike McGonigal, PITCHFORK

“A psych-folk bent for harmonic discord and atmospheric dread finds something forever sinister lodged at the album’s heart: the kind of beauty that makes sailors run aground.” - MOJO

Tiny Vipers
“Being a solo acoustic female singer songwriter comes with its share of conspicuous baggage. And, Seattle’s Jesy Fortino, who records and performs as Tiny Vipers, has been spared little of it: she’s played coffee shops, on mismatched bills with by-the-book folkies, and fielded far too many questions that address her gender rather than her music. Fortunately for us (and, we can only imagine, even more so for her) these things all fall away when she plays. Inhabiting the space carved out by minimal guitar, gentle textures and stark, immediate vocals, Tiny Vipers’ music evokes the contrast and quiet, empty beauty of a grey northwest landscape.” - SUB POP

Today is the first day of a long weekend of free, all ages music for Portland. Here’s the schedule below and for more info visit the PDX POP NOW! web site.

Friday, July 25th
Inside
6:00-6:30pm, Love Menu
6:40-7:10pm, The Rainy States
7:20-7:50pm, Sleep

Outside
8:05-8:35pm, Tu Fawning
8:45-9:15pm, Guidance Counselor
9:25-9:55pm, Dykeritz

Inside
10:10-10:40pm, Panther
10:50-11:20pm, Nick Jaina
11:30-12:00am, Devin Phillips Band
12:10-12:40am, The Builders and the Butchers

Saturday, July 26th
Outside
12:00-12:30pm, The Revisions
12:40-1:10pm, Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights
1:20-1:50pm, Swim Swam Swum

Inside
2:05-2:35pm, Y La Bamba
2:45-3:15pm, The Tenses
3:25-3:55pm, Andy Combs and the Moth

Outside
4:10-4:40pm, Sweater!
4:50-5:20pm, Bodhi
5:30-6:00pm, A Ghost’s Face Two Inches From Your Own Face

Inside
6:15-6:45pm, Eskimo and Sons
6:55-7:25pm, The SubArachnoid Space
7:35-8:05pm, Reporter

Outside
8:20-8:50pm, Nurses
9:00-9:30pm, Blind Pilot
9:40-10:10pm, Living Proof

Inside
10:25-10:55pm, Portland Cello Project
11:05-11:35pm, Loch Lomond
11:45-12:15am, Atole
12:25-12:55am, Starfucker

Sunday, July 27th
Outside
12:00-12:30pm, Wooden Indian Burial Ground
12:40-1:10pm, World’s Greatest Ghosts
1:20-1:50pm, Meth Teeth

Inside
2:05-2:35pm, Podington Bear
2:45-3:15pm, Grouper
3:25-3:55pm, Mattress

Outside
4:10-4:40pm, Cower
4:50-5:20pm, Experimental Dental School
5:30-6:00pm, Bark Hide and Horn

Inside
6:15-6:45pm, A Weather
6:55-7:25pm, Dragging an Ox Through Water
7:35-8:05pm, JonnyX and the Groadies

Outside
8:20-8:50pm, Pure Country Gold
9:00-9:30pm, Eat Skull
9:40-10:10pm, White Fang

Inside
10:25-10:55pm, The Warfield Experience
11:05-11:35pm, Sandpeople
11:45-12:15am, Norfolk & Western
12:25-12:55am, New Bloods