Everybody in the Portland area should be heading out to Pendarvis Farm today for Pickathon 2009. I’ll be out there covering the festival and checking out the likes of Dr Dog, Justin Townes Earle, Blitzen Trapper, CW Stoneking and many more. Holler if you’ll be there too! To follow the play by play action of the festival, you can check out my Twitter page for updates. Pickathon!

Michael Runion, musician and frequent collaborator within the world of Rilo Kiley (including playing on lead singer Jenny Lewis and bass player Pierre de Reeder’s solo records) has given us his “Ten Songs To Remind You That Sad Songs Are The Best” Mixtape. It features tunes by Neil Young, Roger Miller, Camera Obscura and more. Runion will be performing tonight at the Bootleg Theater here in Los Angeles alongside NYC band Chief (who just signed to Domino Records) and Echo Park band Mini Mansions. Check out Runion’s mixtape after the jump.

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Noah and The Whale – 5 Years Time (live)

Today’s Video of the Day is dedicated to frequent When You Awake contributor and my ol’ college best friend, Jenna. It’s her 25th birthday and I love her very much and wish her an amazing day. Happy birthday Jenna!

Head on over to Arthur Magazine for Dan Chamberlin’s piece on “headneck” music, which Chamberlin explains are “tunes beloved in equal measure to cowboys, hippies, bikers and all varieties of stoner hicks, country heads and longhaired rednecks”.  He posts links to some incredible examples of said music, including a a bootleg recording of a 1972 Doug Sahm, Leon Russell, Jerry Garcia and Friends show in Austin, Texas and Sir Doug and The Texas Tornado’s 1976 record Texas Rock For Country Rollers. Definitely worth checking out.

Loretta Lynn and Jack White- Portland, Oregon

I’m flying up to Portland today for the Pickathon Music Festival this weekend. In honor of my journey, here’s Loretta Lynn and Jack White with their tune “Portland, Oregon” off of Lynn’s 2004 album Van Lear Rose.

We are giving away two (2) pairs of tickets to see Domino Records latest signing, Chief, on Friday, July 31st at the Bootleg Theatre. The show is 21+ with Michael Runion and Mini Mansions supporting. To win, e-mail whenyouawakela @ gmail.com (subject: Chief) and tell us a riddle. Include your first and last name in the email. Two winners will be picked and contacted. Tix for the show are $8.

http://www.vimeo.com/1973544Chief – Nice People

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbilly

Whenever I’m stressed or feelin’ down, I just throw on the Kinks and everything is good. Here they are performing “Muswell Hillbilly”, the title track from their 1971 record.

The fine folks over at LA Record asked me to put together a mixtape about our fair city of Los Angeles. The mix features tunes by Gene Clark, Flying Burrito Brothers, John Phillips and more. Check it out over at LA Record.com. Any favorite songs about LA that I missed?

First Aid Kit- Simple Man

This is amazing! The Swedish duo, First Aid Kit, asked for requests for tunes to cover and they actually choose my request. Here they are singing the Graham Nash song “Simple Man.” If you would like to make a request, visit thisisfirstaidkit.com or check out Twitter.com/Faksessions. Thank you so much, girls!

We are giving away three (3) pairs of tickets to see Castanets on Thursday, July 30th at Spaceland. The show is 21+ with Warmer Milks supporting. To win, e-mail whenyouawakela @ gmail.com (subject: Castanets) and tell us what your favorite instrument is and why. Include your first and last name in the email. Three winners will be picked and contacted. Tix for the show are $8 in advance, $10 at the door.

Castanets – You Are The Blood