Okay, so I wanted to go to Pickathon just as much as the next alt-country lovin’ gal, but uh….that shit’s expensive. Expensive, and far away (sigh…Seattle, you’re great, but what can I say? I still sorta miss PDX). Pointless nostalgia aside, there’s no reason for us Washingtonians to drag ourselves all the way down to Oregon when we’ve got our very own roots/alt-country/rockabilly/folk/jug band festival just up the way in Bellingham. Not only is the Stringband Jamboree a mere two hours’ drive away instead of the solid three and a half it’ll take ya to get to Pendarvis Farm, but costs less than a third of what Pickathon’s asking for a weekend pass, even accounting for the day’s difference. And even though there aren’t any really huge names like Langhorne Slim on the Stringband Jamboree bill, the line-up does feature a lot of great local acts that are just as deserving of your time, money and fancy footwork. Like the Crying Shame, for example, which is a band I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, or Conor Byrne fixtures the Tallboys– not to mention a whole slew of lesser-known Canadian and Portland bands. Personally, I’m just looking forward to an unpretentious weekend of cutting a rug with people who (I’m hoping, anyway) don’t care more about fashion than they do about music.

Fri., Aug. 8, 5 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 9, 10 a.m., 2008