The music of Oregon reflects the diverse array of styles present in the music of the United States, from Native American music to the contemporary genres of rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, electronic music, and hip hop. However, throughout most of its history, the state has been relatively isolated from the cultural forces shaping American music. Much of modern popular music traces its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the 1920s. African American musicians borrowed elements of European and Indigenous musics to create new American forms. As Oregon's population was more homogeneous and more white than the United States as a whole, the state did not play a significant role in this history.
Christopher Funk is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as a member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, saxophone, the theremin and many other instruments. According to Colin Meloy, as stated at the Pilgrimage Festival in Franklin, TN on September 27, 2015, Funk was originally given the middle name "Ryman" but a clerical error on his birth certificate resulted in his middle name being recorded as "Lyman."
Allalom Music was an American independent record label founded in 2001. It mainly released indie pop and alternative music. Founded in Redmond, Oregon, it had its headquarters in South Texas before moving back to Portland, Oregon in the fall of 2005. On January 15, 2010, the label announced their closure.
Sarah Eugenie Dougher is an American singer-songwriter, author, and teacher.
Larry Crane is an American editor, recording engineer, and archivist based in Portland, Oregon. Crane is the editor and founder of Tape Op magazine, the owner of Portland's Jackpot! Recording Studio, a freelance engineer, and the archivist for the estate of musician Elliott Smith.
Loch Lomond is an American indie folk band based in Portland, Oregon, founded as a solo recording project of Ritchie Young in 2003.
Musée Mécanique is an American band based in Portland, Oregon, fronted by singer-songwriters Micah Rabwin and Sean Ogilvie. The band's debut LP Hold This Ghost was released September 30, 2008 on Frog Stand Records of Brooklyn, New York and in 2010 on Souterrain Transmissions of Berlin, Germany. The 2014 album From the Shores of Sleep was released by the Portland indie label Tender Loving Empire and in Europe by Glitterhouse Records.
Don't Move Here: Inside Portland's Music Scene is an American documentary series about Portland, Oregon's music scene, that relatively recently has become a hot spot for indie bands. The series was created by director and curator Aaron Rose and produced by Wieden+Kennedy Entertainment.
Typhoon is an American indie rock band based in Portland, Oregon. Led by singer-songwriter Kyle Morton since its founding in 2005, the band is anchored by bassist Toby Tanabe, guitarist Dave Hall, drummer Alex Fitch, and violinist/vocalist Shannon Steele and has been noted for its large size, boasting up to fourteen members in its past. They have released five albums and two EPs, also contributing to a number of compilations. Their most recent album, Underground Complex No. 1 was released on April 15, 2022.
Leigh Marble is a singer/songwriter and record producer living in Portland, Oregon. Over the past eight years, he has released three albums whose approach to indie rock and folk music has been described as "punk Americana".
Radiation City was an American indie rock band that began in Portland, Oregon, in 2010. The band consisted of Cameron Spies, Elisabeth Ellison, Randy Bemrose, Matt Rafferty, and Patti King. There were two couples in the band. The band released four albums: Cool Nightmare, The Hands That Take You, Animals in the Median, and Synesthetica. The band was signed to the Polyvinyl Record Co. label.
The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education is the largest museum dedicated to the documented and visual history of the Jews of Oregon, United States. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation, research, and exhibition of art, archival materials, and artifacts of the Jews and Judaism in Oregon.
Beau Sorenson is an American record producer and engineer. He has worked with Death Cab For Cutie, Bob Mould, Taylor Swift, Superchunk, Sparklehorse, Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, Jars of Clay, Yellow Ostrich, The Lonely Forest, Field Report, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and Elsinore. Originally from Wisconsin, Sorenson spent his early career at Smart Studios in Madison, later moving to Portland, Oregon to become an independent producer and engineer. He releases electronic music, collaborations, and remixes under the name Beaunoise, and is a part of "band-like" project, Exurbs.
Music of the Pacific Northwest encompasses many musical styles from prehistory to the modern Pacific Northwest.
Lucia Fasano is an American singer-songwriter, comedian, actress, comic book writer, cartoonist, and writer based in Los Angeles, California. Fasano co-created and co-stars in the web series Catty B's.
Terry Robb is a Canadian fingerstyle guitarist, composer, arranger and record producer living in the United States. He plays electric and acoustic guitar, and is associated with the American Primitive Guitar genre through his collaboration with steel string guitarist John Fahey. He is a member of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame, and was honored with the eponymous "Terry Robb" Muddy Award for Best Acoustic Guitar in 2011. His original compositions draw on the Delta blues, ragtime, folk music, country music and jazz traditions.
Hunger and Thirst is the second studio album by American indie rock band Typhoon. It was released in May 2010.
Dave Depper is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie.
Y La Bamba is an American indie alternative/experimental band led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Luz Elena Mendoza. She is a first generation Mexican American, and sings in both English and Spanish. The current ensemble includes Mendoza: vocals, guitar; Julia Mendiolea: guitar, bass; Antonio Montanez: drums; Gordon Walters: bass; and Isabeau Waia'u Walker: vocals, percussion.
Ural Thomas is an American soul music singer. While Thomas has made music for over fifty years, his public performances span two eras: the 1950s through the 1960s, and from 2013 through the present as Ural Thomas and the Pain.
