Fact: Fisherman’s Village Festival is a magical time to discover rad new bands. Music is happening all over EVT, WA and attendees can’t help but pick up on some tasty flavors and new favorites.

Here are a few bands I’m excited to catch this year.

1. Karl Blau
Anacortes-based musician Karl Blau played in the band D+ with Phil Elverum of the Microphones/Mount Eerie and Bret Lunsford of Beat Happening.

Blau has a high output of creativity and has 40 solo records to his name. He’s definitely an individual who’s 100% himself, whether that entails rocking an apparently non-ironic mullet or recording an album of African-inspired music. Check out his Bandcamp page to tune in his sizeable and genre-bending catalog.

Blau’s latest record is a comprised of crooning classic country music covers and has received some very positive national attention. Check out this vid in which Blau cruises around and ends up carpooling with Kyle Field from the band Little Wings.

When: 10 PM on Sunday, April 2nd @ Tony V’s Garage

2. LAKE
LAKE first appeared on my radar as a K Records band. They exemplified the easy breezy indie pop sound of that label. Their upbeat electric piano soul track Rodger Miller streams regularly on my running playlist.

LAKE members hail from Anacortes and Olympia, two thriving music scenes. Singer Ashley Erikkson has released some great solo albums, done a few shows in Everett, and has recorded some dank vocal tracks as a touring member of Mount Eerie.

Here’s a new song from LAKE worth checking out.

When: 8 PM on Sunday, April 2nd @ Tony V’s Garage

3. Jenn Champion
Jenn C’s got indie cred from way back when. I know her from her first band, Seattle indie rock sad guys Carissa’s Wierd (sic). During high school I listened to Carissa’s Wierd on a daily basis thanks to my portable CD player (gives you an idea of how old I am), tapping into that angsty folk vibe for my teenage soundtrack.

After CW broke up, band members Ben Bridwell & Mat Brooke started Band of Horses and Jenn continued to release emotionally-heavy folk albums under the solo project she called simply S. As S she ruled the sadcore vibe for a good decade (sample album title: Puking and Crying).

Her new single No One is a different sound. It’s a sleek and angular track in a minor chord 80s new wave way, reminding me of Joy Division or the Cure. It seems to be a new aural direction for her and I’m excited to see where she heads with it.

Here’s Jenn Champion hanging out with an apparently well-meaning skeleton who is still ominous nonetheless.

When: 6 PM on Saturday, April 1st @ the Everett Performing Arts Center

4. Crater Lakes
Reverbed twang over cryptic words…

Local musician Rylie P. Smith is a mystic type who taps into other sonic realms.

I picked up his cassette/debut album Gulch Days at FMVF last year. Very cool and weird vibes, coming from some sort of cosmic portal.

If you made a mash equal parts bedroom-recorded jangly folk music and garage rock and buried it under the moss in the PNW to ferment… this is what it would sound like.

Check out more of Crater Lakes here.

When: 2 PM on Sunday, April 2nd @ Tony V’s Garage

5. Courtney Marie Andrews
In the old days you learned about trending artists by checking the new arrivals at the record shop. In the digital age I often learn about emerging artists through what you might call “the snowball effect of name droppage.”

Several people in my social media circles who seem to have discerning musical taste have posted Courtney Marie Andrews videos/songs/articles recently. She has a lot of name recognition in my spectrum, so I’m interested to check out her set this year. I’m going with no expectations other than the fulfillment of a ton of hype.

No pressure, CMA.

Yes, that’s always been the cool part of Fisherman’s: discovering fresh jamz.

When: 9 PM on Sunday, April 2nd @ Tony V’s Garage

Editor's Note: Psst. Richard Porter and his band The Porters will be playing at Fisherman's on 7 PM on Friday March 31st at the Black Lab Gallery. Go get an autograph from the legend himself why dontcha.

Richard Porter is a social worker and musician. He lives in North Everett and enjoys running on Marine View Drive, bicycling down tree-lined streets, and trying to coax vegetables out of his yard.