Another music section for a week that features PDX Pop Now!, Pickathon, and the single most important concert of the year, Hilary Duff.

Friends of P unite! The Rentals have returned. Now if we can just get Weezer to stay broken up, everyone wins!!
MP3: The Rentals - Little Bit of You in Everything

The past, and future, of San Francisco’s quirky The Papercuts.
MP3: The Papercuts - John Brown

Jason Isbell left is wife and his band, not necessarily in that order, and is now rolling solo. There will be no convoy for this lonesome trucker.
MP3: Jason Isbell - Dress Blues (This is one of the better protest songs of the post-Phil Ochs era)

When you aren’t basking in the awesomeness of PDX Pop Now!, hike up those overalls and head on over to this year’s Pickathon, which isn’t just for hippies anymore. Songs from two of the festival’s best acts are below:
MP3: The Avett Brothers - Paranoia in B-flat Major

MP3: Gregory And The Hawk - Oats We Sow