Brent Bell of PDX Pop Now!: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

Over the past four years in Portland, Oregon a group of volunteers at PDX Pop Now! have put on a 3-day, all-ages, free festival (this year's dates are August 3-5, 2007) and released a 2-CD compilation featuring some of the diverse music being made in Portland these days.

To quote their mission statement: "PDX Pop Now! is dedicated to stimulating and expanding participation in Portland music. As an all-volunteer organization committed to being accessible, current, and local, we provide and support live performances and recorded materials. We aspire to advance a sustainable community which values inclusivity and a high caliber of artistry to enable a creative dialog between artist and audience."

Beyond the great music, what interested me most about PDX Pop Now! is that the organization is volunteer-run, which by its nature changes the reasons for such a festival and compilation and is quite a different setting than a CMJ or SXSW festival. They also confess to wanting to keep it local, so I thought I'd include this show not so much because they want PDX Pop Now! to become a destination festival, but to sample the great musical acts on the compilation CDs and to provide some ideas and background for music fans in other parts of the world who might want to create their own local music event in the spirit of what PDX Pop Now! is doing.