Deli Readers,

Our Best of Portland Poll for Emerging Artists has been - as usual - a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

All of us at the Deli would like to congratulate Cat Hoch for becoming The Deli Portland's Best Emerging Artist of 2015! It doesn't come as much of a surprise, though, as Cat's indelible musical footprint even landed her the opening spot for Ride's performance in Portland last year. She's talented, as is her supporting band, and she'll without a doubt keep dishing out incredible, dreamy psychedelia for the enjoyment of the masses.

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The Domestics - after winning this same poll last year, when their full length debut album hadn't been released yet - ring in our #2 slot, with their fun and loveable rock-pop. They've got a mass appeal and an easy to enjoy sound, so much so that it landed them on last year's PDX Pop Now! festial compilation album, along with our top spotter Cat Hoch (and a performance at the fest along with our 3rd place winner). 

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Round out our top 3 is DIY/post punk trio Golden Hour, comprised of wonderfully endearing ladies who produce songs that are just as captivating. Almost out of nowhere, Golden Hour sprung up on the scene, dominating every show they've played so far with a charming humbleness. The Don't Be Cute LP came out in February of last year and we're hoping to get another release from these lovelies soon.

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Check out our poll's top 15 below, and don't forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT-ROCK/METAL | ELECTRONIC | INDIE-POP | INDIE-ROCK | PSYCH | PUNK/GARAGE | ROOTS

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Cat Hoch 6.5   0.036 6.536 2 The Domestics 6.5   0.005 6.505 3 Golden Hour 6.5   0.004 6.504 4 Fur Coats 5.5   0.016 5.516 5 Chanti Darling 5.5   0.014 5.514 6 Moon by You 4.5   0.064 4.564 7 Blowout 4.5   0.015 4.515  8  Coco Columbia 3   1 4 9 Dirty Revival 3   0.125 3.125 10 Rod 3   0.055 3.055 11 Leo Islo 3   0.054 3.054 12 Muscle and Marrow 3   0.02 3.02 13 Sioux Falls 3   0.018 3.018 14 Boone Howard 3   0.015 3.015 15 Ah God 3   0.015 3.015 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Portland scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music Portland produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Aaron Sharpsteen (SSG Music), Ana Ammann (Publisher for Oregon Music News), Annie Ostrowski (Riot Act Media), Chad Davis (music video director), Duffy Rongiiland (Gnar Tapes), Heather Hanson (Portland Radio Project), Hunter Skowron (Dazzleship Records), Jeni Wren Stottrup (Portland Mercury), Linneas Boland-Godbey (Vortex Mag), Mac Pogue (Impose Magazine), Meagan Ruyle (PDX Pop Now!), Noelle Magia (CD Baby), Rob Cullivan (Portland Tribune), Todd Walberg (show photographer), Tony Prato (Bunk Bar), Travis Leipzig (Noise & Color), Yousef Hatlani (Faces on the Radio).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

Saturday night, April 25 at Kelly's Olympian, The Deli Portland celebrates the winners of their Best Emerging Artist of 2014 poll - where local music industry insiders, tastemakers and listeners alike democratically elect their favorite new Portland artists. Headlining the night, 2014's poll winners The Domestics will croon their way through your ear and into your hearts with their lyrically-charged, heartfelt indie rock and roll reminiscent of the late Heatmiser. The fall of 2014 saw the release of their self-titled debut LP and made The Domestics an instant classic. Support by the folk tinged dream psych wizardry of Jackson Boone, and openers The Tamed West with their more upbeat reverb washed garage pop blend of psych rock. Doors at 8:30, 21+, $5 in advance or $7 at the door.

Treefort Music Fest 2015 was an absolute whirlwind. In their biggest and unarguably most successful year yet, the festival had non-stop fantastic musical curation throughout the entire long weekend. Waking up each morning with a gnarly hangover, the only admirable thing to do was to pop into Big City Coffee for a heartstopping breakfast burrito and a few cups of coffee while checking out the festival schedule to figure out your show and drinking route for the day, then, hit the ground running. Check out our photo recap, including shots of Viet Cong, Foxygen, Built To Spill, Yahct, And And And, Aan, The Domestics, Bed., Wooden Indial Burrial Ground, Grandparents and more. Photos by Drew Bandy, Adam Smith, Jessica Pierson and Grahame Bywater.

Deli Nation,

Our Year End Poll for Emerging Portland Artists was - as usual - a painstaking (and somewhat excruciating) process, but we pulled it off with remarkable flair!

A huge congratulations to The Domestics for becoming The Deli Portland's Artist of 2014. For a group who seemed to materialize out of nowhere in early 2014, they recorded easily one of the best albums in recent Portland history. And it hasn't gone unnoticed. Through and through, these guys are pure musicians and true song writers. Here's looking forward to more soul-crushingly beautiful folk-friendly indy rock from them to come in the near future.

Sama Dams were not far behind, securing the Number 2 seat. Their 2014 sophomore release, Comfort in Doubt, underscores Adams ability to craft unique and heartfelt avant indie rock that both gently draws the listener in and challenges them with intelligent rhythms and out-there guitar solos.

It's also no surprise to see Talkative at the top of this list. Their 2014 debut studio lp, Hot Fruit Barbeque, was the culmination of four years of relentless high-energy gigging and self-recorded demos, and is one of the strongest recent contributions to the realm of Pacific NW psych rock. 

Here is how it all went down: first we let the local bands submit their music, and had various Deli editors to pick their favorites as nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Portland music scene experts (our jury) asking them each to nominate 3 more bands of their choice. Then we polled our writers. And finally we polled our readers. We tried our damdest to keep things open and inclusive across all genres, from Indie to folk to Hip Hop.

If you care to geek out on all the subtelties of how this poll works, you can check out the rules in depth here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music that Portland produced in 2014, then the following list is all you need. Enjoy!

BEST OF 2014 POLL FOR EMERGING PORTLAND ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS ******

ARTIST J OS W R TOT   1 The Domestics 11   1 0.036 12.036 2 Sama Dams 9   1 0.017 10.017 3 Talkative 7   1 0.027 8.027 4 The Tamed West 6     0.013 6.013 5 Psychomagic 3   3 0.008 6.008 6 Summer Cannibals 6     0.006 6.006 7 The Ghost Ease 4   1 0.033 5.033 8 Grandparents 2   3 0.021 5.021 9 Like A Villain 4   1 0.014 5.014 10 Aan 3   2 0.011 5.011 11 The Lower 48   3 1 0.004 4.004 12 Big Haunt 4     0.002 4.002   Thanks 3   1 0.002 4.002 14 Mermaid in China   1 1 2 4 15 Bubble Cats 3     0.023 3.023 16 Lunch 2   1 0.013 3.013 17 Fanno Creek 2   1 0.006 3.006 18 Swansea 3     0.003 3.003 19 The Shivas 3     0.002 3.002 20 Blesst Chest 3     0.001 3.001   Chanterelles 3     0.001 3.001   Musee Mechanique 3     0.001 3.001 23 And And And 3     0 3   The Woolen Men 3     0 3 25 Kool Stuff Katie   1   1.5 2.5   Jackson Boone   2   0.5 2.5   Just Lions   2   0.5 2.5 28 Fringe Class 2     0.018 2.018 29 Minden 2     0.016 2.016 30 Eidolons 1   1 0.013 2.013 31 Golden Hour 2     0.009 2.009 32 Comm 2     0.007 2.007 33 Bed. 2     0.004 2.004 34 Lost Lander 2     0.001 2.001   Mothertapes   1 1 0.001 2.001   Sons of Huns 2     0.001 2.001 37 Dirty Revival   1   1 2 38 The Fourth Wall 1     0.027 1.027 39 Arlo Indigo 1     0.019 1.019 40 Jeffrey Martin   1   0.004 1.004   Landlines 1     0.004 1.004 42 Anna Tivel   1   0.001 1.001   Renaissance Coalition 1     0.001 1.001   Vinnie Dewayne 1     0.001 1.001 45 Modern Kin 1     0 1   The Binary Marketing Show   1   0 1 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

Jurors List: Jared Mees (Tender Loving Empire), James Dineen (Portland Media Works, Xray.fm), Papi Fimbres (Revival Drum Shop, drummer in 20+ PDX bands), Rochelle Hunter (booker extraordinaire), Louie Herr (Banana Stand Media), Colette Pomerleau (SSG Music), Matt Singer (Willamette Week), Annie Miranda (PDX Pop Now!), Elizabeth Elder (talent buyer at Union/Pine, Party Boyz), Boone Howard (sound engineer at Mississippi Studios, Rontoms and Bunk Bar), Ryan Dornfeld (Eleven PDX Magazine), Theo Craig (Smoke Signals Music, Xray.fm), Ingrid Renan (Exploding Green), Alexei Shiskin (Noise & Color PDX, Gelatenous Blog), Aaron Colter (Banana Stand Media), Cody Burger (talent buyer at Firkin), Dustin Mills (Eleven PDX Magazine), Chris Young (Vortex Music Magazine), Nalin Silva (Revolver Studios, talent buyer at Kelly's Olympian), and Rachael Milbauer (Tender Loving Empire, She Shreds, Party Boyz).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

When Michael Finn quit drumming for Old Age a couple of years ago, all I could think was "what the fuck man? Old Age Kills! You Kill! WHAT THE FUCK?!" But then I watched Finn play a handful of solo acoustic sets which showcased a side of the artist I hadn't seen yet, some startlingly beautiful chops and an honest knack for songwriting. And when I heard the first tracks from his new project, The Domestics, where he's teamed up with fellow songwriter Leo London, I finally felt at ease about Finn's departure from Old Age. The Domestics absolutely kill, too! Which is why they've earned themselves the righteous title of Deli Portland's Artist of the Month. Congrats boys!

With a sound that's Part Elliot Smith, part The Beatles and a dash of Nick Cave, The Domestics write songs from the heart and their delivery couldn't be more polished. Keep your eyes on this band, they're shure to make a big splash with the release of their forthcoming self titled debut album due for release on September 5, 2014. 

- Travis Leipzig