EVERETT — Canadian indie-rock band Wolf Parade and Epic Records rapper Travis Thompson will headline this year’s Fisherman’s Village Music Festival in Everett.
The Everett Music Initiative festival, set for May 16-18 in downtown Everett, will showcase more than 50 acts of many genres. More than 20 of those are local acts, the most ever in the festival’s six-year history. The 2019 lineup was announced March 16.
Tickets, $79 each for three full days of live music, can be purchased online at everettmusicinitiative.org and thefishermansvillage.com.
“Every year we have to balance creating an experience for locals and creating enough of a draw for someone to want to drive more than 30 miles to come here,” said Ryan Crowther, founder of the festival. “I think we’ve really hit that balance well. There’s something for everyone.”
This year’s performance venues include the Black Lab Gallery, Schack Art Center, Narrative Coffee and Scuttlebutt Taproom & Brewery. There also will be an outdoor stage on Cedar Street in front of the Scuttlebutt brewery.
Set times will be announced sometime in April, Crowther said. The festival, Everett Music Initiative’s largest annual event, should draw more than 5,000 people, he said. It was held in March for the past two years, but has been moved back to May.
Wolf Parade was a major force in the mid-2000s indie-rock scene for its blend of glam, progressive rock and synth-rock. Their breakthrough album from 2005, “Apologies to the Queen,” was followed by two other acclaimed releases in 2008 (“At Mount Zoomer”) and 2010 (“Expo 86). The group’s fourth album from 2017, “Cry Cry Cry,” marked a new energetic sound a year after they returned from a five-year hiatus.
Wolf Parade will perform as a trio without its longtime guitarist, Dante DaCaro, who left the band in February.
Thompson — who lives in Burien — is a recent signee with Epic Records, a major label owned by Sony that includes the likes of superstars such as Travis Scott, Jennifer Lopez and Rick Ross.
His poet-like lyrical talents caught the attention of Seattle star Macklemore, who featured him on the single “Corner Store” and took him on tour. He also has appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
“For a local Seattle act to get a major label partnership is a really big deal,” Crowther said. “He’s received a lot of support from a lot of big names.”
Here are the acts playing at this year’s festival:
Returning performers include Oliver Elf Army, The Moon Is Flat, Fretland, Sleepover Club, goawaysun, Fuzz Mutt, SPHYRAMID and The Porters.
The Coathangers are Atlanta-based punk rockers best known for their fourth album, “Suck My Shirt,” which led to a tour as a supporting act for the garage rock band Black Lips. Members include Julia Kugel-Montoya on guitar, Meredith Franco on bass and Stephanie Lukeon drums.
Laura Veirs is a singer-songwriter from Portland whose solo career in folk and alternative country began in 1999 with a self-titled album, featuring herself and an acoustic guitar. Her ninth album, “Warp and Weft,” released in 2013, was critically acclaimed and peaked at No. 10 on the U.S. Folk Album charts.
BRONCHO started off as a goofy pop-punk band in 2010 punctuated by vocalist Ryan Lindsey’s odd lyrics and distinctive singing style. Now a new-wave and indie-rock band, BRONCHO’s song “It’s On” was played on the HBO series “Girls.” Other members include Nathan Priceon drums, Penny Pitchlynnon bass and Ben Kingon guitar.
Death Valley Girls have a genre-defying sound, which they describe as “California doom boogie.” It mixes garage rock with psych-pop and proto-metal. The band from Los Angeles is led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgardenand guitarist Larry Schemel, who channel Black Sabbath’s occult menace, Fun House’s sonic exorcisms and early ZZ Top’s desert-blasted riffage.
Geographer is Mike Deni. His synth pop/indie-rock band, based in San Francisco, evokes outer-space themes with soulful melodies. Some of Deni’s live performances feature improvised loops of his vocals, saxophone and synthesizers. He also plays the acoustic guitar.
PICKWICK hails from Seattle and combines R&B with indie rock. The group, which has a knack for propulsive rhythms and dreamy choruses, have been compared to The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes and Sam Cooke. The band’s mix of instruments include vibraphone, keyboard, drums, guitar and bass.
Molly Parden is a Georgia-born acoustic pop-folk artist who first found a niche as a harmony singer in Nashville’s Americana scene. She later gained popularity for her melancholic singing, which touches on heartbreak, loss and tragedy.
Others acts include Omni, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Lithics, Dick Stusso, Parisalexa, Moaning, Bells Atlas, Wimps, Valley Maker, chong the nomad, Sloucher, Spooky Mansion, I Will Keep Your Ghost, Ashley Eriksson Disco Project, Super Sparkle, Little Wins, Tellers, Tilson XOXO, Tissue, Actionesse, Weep Wave, Warren Dunes, King Mammoth, Oceanwires, Bad Optics, Shoecraft, Steel Beans, Moments, Narrow Tarot, Killinsworth, Sylvi, School of Rock Lynnwood, Clothing Optional and Izaac Mellow.
Evan Thompson: 425-339-3427, ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @ByEvanThompson.
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