Bass pounding so hard you feel it in your bones. Bright lights and an angelic voices floating over crowds of people. Your new favorite band is live, and you feel yourself forming core memories. This is Treefort, a five-day music festival down in Boise, Idaho.
Treefort Music Festival was started in 2012, and typically happens around March 20. Its timing was selected to attract indie rock artists on their way back to their hometowns from South by Southwest and other festivals, and while the festival started as a three-day festival with 137 bands in 2012, this year, 2024, was a 5-day festival with 440 total performers.
KUOI 89.3 FM, the University of Idaho’s student radio station, went down to cover the festival last year and had a blast, but we knew we could execute it better this year, so planning started early. By the time we touched down in Boise on Tuesday night, we had 10 interviews and 22 performances slotted into our schedule. And yet, we met even more wonderful artists and other media outlets, as well as seeing some old friends.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we picked up our press passes and headed to our first interview with Olivia Vika of Vika and the Velvets, a mod blues-inspired band based out of Spokane, and we talked about the blues, Amy Winehouse and classical music shaping her song writing process.
After that, we hopped over to the main stage located in Julia Davis Park to catch the rap duo Flyana Boss, known for several songs that are popular on social media.
Our next interview was with LA-based indie-pop artist Kid Bloom, and then a run back to the main stage to see Dawes and Lucius before heading over to the Boise Brewing Company stage in front of their downtown tasting room to see Kid Bloom perform on a psychedelically lit stage with his touring band.
Treefort, while it started as a music festival, is not just about the music. Hundreds of local food and beverage vendors such as Boise Brewing and pretty much every shop and store within the festival footprint get involved in some way. From tattoo flash sales to elusive food vendor pop-ups, the whole city gets covered with festival spirit for the weekend.
After that set, we when to the El Korah Shrine, to see Vika and the Velvets play in the Shriner’s basement, which also serves as a year-round Duck Club venue.
Thursday
Thursday started with an interview with the French Cassettes, a San Francisco band that is getting ready to release a new album in June, and released a new music video the day before, where we spoke about filming the music video, writing the new album and the state of the San Franscisco music scene.
Afterward, we went down to the main stage to see Blood Lemon, a Boise-based Riot Girl band perform and experience their addicting harmonies.
We then ran back to Boise Brewing, where we caught and interviewed the Boise-based emo band Amoeba Arena about growing up in Boise and developing their sound.
Our last show of the night was the French Cassettes at the Treefort Music Hall, a permanent venue established by the Duck Club in order to host bands year-round. It was a wonderful show and an excellent cap to an amazing day.
Friday
Friday was our biggest interview day of the week. We started with an interview with Gilda House, a Europop-inspired trio from Billings, Montana, who chatted with us about their inspirations and their music. Immediately after, we sat down with Madeline Hawthorne, a country music artist from Bozeman, Montana, who grew up back east and followed her heart out west.
We then split up for a brief moment, to both catch Gilda House at the Cyclops Stage in the Grove Plaza and interview Provo, Utah-based National Parks about their music and fame. We then went and caught their show at another stage in Julia Davis Park called the Hideout and heard their powerful lyrics about nature.
We caught some of the shows in local bars, including Slow Hollows, an Indie-rock band from LA, who we also interviewed on their past in the DIY punk scene. They performed at the Neurolux, a longstanding Boise bar and music venue. Afterward, we trekked across town for our final show of the night at Pengilly’s Saloon, where we listened to Madeline Hawthorne and her band while she featured some other folk artists playing at the festival.
Saturday
We started Saturday interviewing queer R&B band Day Soul Exquisite from Seattle, where we dove deep into collective songwriting, politics, art and uncommon percussion setups.
After the interview, we ran to and from several shows, grabbing photos of bands like Daffo, Sons of Reineer and Sir Chloe. We then went to the Basque Center, where we saw and photographed Day Soul Exquisite as they performed. We then rode the Treeline for a while, meeting people and experiencing even more music before we headed back to the mainstage and saw Briston Moroney.
We rushed back to the Neurolux to see and photograph Moscow-based band and friend of the station Desolation Horse, as they performed songs from their album Biff, which came out in October. We then ended our day and our time at the festival by seeing Afrosonics, A Boise-based band that combines African drum beats with many different Western music genres, which was a very Boise end to the week.
Abigail Spencer can be reached at [email protected]