Pickathons 2016 mascot, Stone E. Coyote.
  • Pickathon's 2016 mascot, "Stone E. Coyote."
Pickathon tickets went on sale early this morning, and tonight the Portland-area music festival announced the first round of acts playing this year's festival at its lineup announcement party tonight at Revolution Hall. Amid performances from the Woolen Men, Fruit Bats, and the Easy Leaves, Pickathon revealed roughly 40 bands that'll be there this year. It's an impressive list, as always, evidence of the strong curatorial sense the roots-and-beyond fest has demonstrated over the past 18 years.

Jeff Tweedy, Yo La Tengo, and Beach House are the above-the-fold names, demonstrating the range of bands performing at this year's fest, which will take place at Pendarvis Farm on August 5, 6, and 7. But a look further down the list reveals some diverse surprises. Black/doom metal band Vhöl (including Yob's Mike Scheidt) marks the fest's first explicit foray into metal, and Yemen Blues offers a style of music—blues, from Yemen!—that remains foreign to most western ears. BadBadNotGood dabbles in jazz, as Boulevards does in funk; the UK's James Hunter Six carries the torch for traditional R&B, Dan Deacon explores electronic ecstasy, and a bevy of traditional bluegrass and traditional American roots-music performers hold down a strong, expected presence.

The Woolen Men performed at tonights Pickathon lineup announcement party at Revolution Hall.
  • The Woolen Men performed at tonight's Pickathon lineup announcement party at Revolution Hall.
Click the jump to see the full list of announced bands. Pickathon has promised more names to come in addition to this, including a couple more names that could be considered headliners. Tickets are on sale here.

Jeff Tweedy
Yo La Tengo
Beach House
Ty Segall & The Muggers
Black Mountain
The Oh Hellos
Patrick Watson
Thee Oh Sees
The James Hunter Six
Ibeyi
Fruit Bats
Dan Deacon
Julia Holter
BadBadNotGood
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Alvvays
Protomartyr
Yemen Blues
La Luz
Ultimate Painting
Daniel Norgren
Boulevards
Mount Moriah
The Deslondes
Golden Rules
Moon Duo
Margo Price
Futurebirds
C.W. Stoneking
Ezra Furman
Adia Victoria
Vhöl
The Cairo Gang
Lindi Ortega
My Bubba
10 String Symphony
Palehound
Kacy and Clayton
Foghorn Stringband
The Easy Leaves
The Wild Reeds
Sir Richard Bishop
I Draw Slow
The Woolen Men