Here is the latest installment of our summer series, highlighting a diverse mix of upcoming festivals. Today we look at the Northwest String Summit

The Essentials:

Horning’s Hideout, North Plains, OR, July 16-18

The Lineup:

Yonder Mountain String Band, The Rhythm Devils (Featuring Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann), moe. (Special 20th Anniversary Acoustic/Electric Late Night Set), The Infamous Stringdusters, Great American Taxi, Danny Barnes and Friends, Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, Crooked Still, Benny “Burle” Galloway and Jessica Kilroy, The Urban Monroes, Crunchy Western Boys, Pete Kartsounes and Friends (Thursday night beer garden set)

The Buzz:

The peacocks and the serene setting are reasons enough to make the trip. Multiple sets by Yonder and a rare acoustic set by moe. are added bonuses.

The Overview

The Northwest String Summit at Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon, 20 miles west of Portland, has earned a stature as the premier boutique musical festival in the Pacific Northwest. Now in its 9th annual round, it’s a festival I look forward to each year in general, but the line-up this year has stoked a new flame under the peacock haven, psychedelic string collective symphony lighting up the Pacific Northwest for the weekend of July 16th – July 18th. An aggregation of largely acoustic string cohesion, the festival hosts a plucked, strummed, picked, bowed army of instruments that pour into the lush acreage of Horning’s Hideout.

The flavors have expanded this year, inviting a wider spectrum of textured rhythms to join the string pool. Yonder Mountain String Band will play their standard 3 nights of music, bending bluegrass like blown glass that thought it was destined to be a vase into a unique rippled, antlered dragon canopy. There will also be drums. Percussion explosion ignites with the addition of Rhythm Devils featuring Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and Keller Williams, as well as a late night set with moe. reverberating an acoustic/electrified shock wave pulse through string rivers in the first wholly non-bluegrass performance I’ve witnessed at this festival.

It’s an event that gets better each year. An organically growing entity in itself, each person, musician and performance provides an integral part of the weekend. Playing three consecutive nights of music at their personally orchestrated festival of friends, icons and inspirations, YMSB slowly seeps into the comfortable family vibe of their very large, green living room.

There will be a special Thursday night performance by Pete Kartsounes again this year in the beer garden (with an additional camping fee) for those anxious to get their heels dirty and start the weekend early. For all other festival goers the gates open at noon on Friday, July 16th. There are many beautiful, shaded camping sites available as well as kid-friendly areas, play shops and parades.

There are still discounted tickets available at the “Procrastinator Rate.” Check out the website for the full details.