Festival brings together nature and music

It's not quite hippies-at-Woodstock, but Wulapalooza celebrates Earth Day at Willamette University with a line-up of professional bands performing throughout the event on April 24.

This free event brings bands The Dodos, Portugal.The Man, Japandroids, and Typhoon to the Salem stage on Brown Field which opens at 6 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m.

The Dodos venture north from their home in San Francisco to play indie music from their latest album "Time to Die." Portland's Portugal.The Man bring their blend of alternative rock and also hailing from the Rose City is Typhoon who perform their mix of soul and black metal, including tracks from their new album "Hunger and Thirst" due out on May 4.

Vancouver, Canada's duo the Japandroids round out the event's line-up with their garage rock sound.

For more information, go to www.willamette.edu/org/wulapalooza.

Local band releases debut album

Three local musicians are happy about debuting their work with their first album. Find Your Smile plays a release show on April 10 at Triangle Inn at 8 p.m. to celebrate the occasion.

Lead singer/guitarist Jordan Roach, bassist Ben Roach, and drummer Scott Wurgler write songs like "Met A Guy," "Beat O'Mine," and "Celilo" together. The three-piece band recorded this music at the new Marigold Studios under the IKE Box.

"On this album we have songs that are rockin' and songs that are jazzy," Jordan said. "We like to mix it up and hopefully each song sounds different than the song before."

For more information about the band, visit www.myspace.com/fysmusic.

Music festival brings hundreds of musicians to the Cherry City

Independent bands from near and far converge on the capital city this April to participate in a three-day event taking place in 15 downtown venues.

The 4th Annual Cherry City Musical Festival brings together more than 400 musicians performing everything from jazz to punk, classical to reggae and everything in between from April 8-10.

Punk cabaret artist Franz Nicoly headlines the festival this year. The New York musicians lead more than 100 local and regional acts that also plan to play venues such as Wasteland, The Space, Copperjohn's, Flipside, Mission Mill Museum, Venti's Cafe and Basement Bar, Boon's Treasury and more.

Ticket prices for individual shows vary and all-access wristbands are available for $30 online and at select locations downtown. For more information, visit cherrycitymusic.com.