Two nationally touring indie-rock bands, Florida’s Surfer Blood and Minnesota’s Night Moves, will headline this year’s Fisherman’s Village Music Festival in Everett.
The Everett Music Initiative’s seventh annual festival is set for May 14-16 in downtown Everett. The venues have yet to be determined.
Tickets for the 21-and-older event are $79 for three days of live music. They can be purchased online at thefishermansvillage.com. Prices for single-day tickets will be announced with the festival schedule in April.
The festival will showcase more than 50 acts, ranging from folk to hip-hop.
Everett Music Initiative founder Ryan Crowther curated the lineup based on feedback from from previous festivals. The focus this year is on Pacific Northwest talent, he said.
“Ultimately, as we sort of cement ourselves as a community festival, we’re really comfortable not having a big headliner,” he said. “We really want to focus it on well-known Pacific Northwest artists who people are excited to see and maybe lesser-known artists from around the country that will be more of a discovery.”
Surfer Blood, which gained notice for their 2009 single “Swim,” is known for infectious pop melodies with gritty overtones accented by frontman John Paul Pitts. The band appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” in 2012.
“Surfer Blood is able to straddle a line of very accessible indie rock with an underlining punk rock sense to it,” Crowther said. “It’s almost hidden, but it comes out in their live performances.”
Night Moves has drawn comparisons to Flaming Lips, Band of Horses and Mercury Rev for its brand of “poppy psychedelia.”
“The band is able to deliver a modern sound that appeals to playlist algorithms and younger folks, but (frontman John Pelant’s) vocals bring a real classic, sultry sound that anyone would love,” Crowther said.
More than 20 acts from the lineup are from Snohomish County, including Everett favorites The Moondoggies, Jason Webley and TELLERS. Josh Clauson, founder of Darrington music festival Summer Meltdown and frontman of jam band Flowmotion, also will perform. A handful of local acts will play during the Night Market, a free, all-ages section of the festival that showcases live music and locally made goods.
Returning performers include Oliver Elf Army, SPHYRAMID, Clothing Optional, Sylvi, The Moon is Flat, I Will Keep Your Ghost, Weep Wave and Actionesse.
Other acts playing at this year’s festival:
Yuno, whose 2018 song “No Going Back” accumulated more than 2 million plays on Spotify, is known for jubilant, bouncy riffs, moody melodies and catchy hooks. He’s signed to Sub Pop, the Seattle record label that helped launch the grunge era.
Kassi Valazza’s songwriting melds elements of folk, rock, Americana and country with narrative-centric lyrics that portray her childhood growing up in Arizona. “Kassi has this high desert, Americana vibe,” Crowther said. “It’s just incredible, and her band couldn’t be better.”
Chanti Darling is a Portland-based electro-soul band fronted by Chanticleer Trü. Trü’s reverence for disco, boogie funk, rhythm and blues and house makes every song feel like a late 1980s block party.
Lowland Hum, an alternative folk duo from Charlottesville, Virginia, is made up of husband and wife Daniel and Lauren Goans. Playing on acoustic guitar and piano, the couple’s music has been described as poetic and evocative. Moments of levity and vulnerability can be heard on their fourth full-length studio album, “Glyphonic,” released in 2019.
Black Ends: The Seattle-based grungy rock trio’s music is often described as dark, rambunctious and frazzling. Led by singer-guitarist Nicolle Swimms, their wiry debut EP “Sellout” in 2019 includes moody atmospheres, swaggering garage-rock grooves and razor-like guitar work.
Other performers include A Strange Bird, Acid Tongue, Almighty’s, Bad Optics, Bear Axe, Belgian Fog, Black Tones, Bodies on The Beach, Cartel Madras, Caspar Babypants, Chris King and the Gutterballs, Cloud Cover, Davanos, David Stedman & United All-Stars, Jody Glenham, Madcap Pusher, Moody Bear, Night Heron, Petty Thief, Plastic Picnic, Prism Bitch, Reader, Red Ribbon, Rucker, School of Rock, Several Other Ghosts, Shoecraft, Sleepover Club, Small Forward, Smoker Dad, Smokey Brights, Spirit Award, Steel Beans, The Berries, The Grizzled Mighty, The Requisite, 2112 (Rush tribute) and Washington Mile.
Evan Thompson: 425-339-3427, ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @ByEvanThompson.
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