I won't bury the lede: Volume, the Inlander-founded music festival that champions local, regional and national bands, is coming back. For the first time since 2019, Volume will take over venues around town Sept. 13 and 14 for two nights packed with live music.
That said, while remaining a media partner, The Inlander won't be running the fest anymore. Local talent buyer Ryker is heading up the revitalization efforts alongside their HaveUHeard!? business partner Brayton Dawson and Great PNW owner and creative director Joel Barbour.
The first incarnation of Volume was a 2010 concert at the Knitting Factory featuring The Inlander's "Bands to Watch": Matthew Winters, Space Opera 77, Jaeda, Ze Krau and FAUS. The festival took 2011 off but returned in 2012 with 39 bands in six venues. Volume reached 100 bands across 10 stages in 2016. In 2019, Volume featured Chewelah-raised soul singer Allen Stone, Super Sparkle (R.I.P.), Indian Goat and Heat Speak, among many others. But like so many other things, COVID put the kibosh on a 2020 Volume.
Now, with the local music scene back on its feet, Volume is ready to once again spotlight talented artists in the Inland Northwest.
Ryker and Barbour independently reached out to The Inlander about potentially reviving Volume. While the timing wasn't right when Ryker first showed interest, things aligned when Barbour came calling and the pair teamed up.
"From the Great PNW brand, from a regional standpoint, community is No. 1," says Barbour, "so anything that we can be involved in that brings people together for a good, positive event, we're all about it."
For Ryker, organizing this year's Volume is a full-circle moment, as helping music promoter and talent buyer Patrick Kendrick book the 2017 festival was their first experience talent buying. Ryker now books the annual Great PNW/Rainier Beer collaboration parties as well as other regional festivals, including Lucky Fest Northwest in 2022.
Volume 2024 artists and venues will be announced later this summer, and Ryker is hopeful the diversity in sound and identity on stage will encourage diverse audiences to attend the festival. Along with talent booking, Ryker is also overseeing the production side of things, arranging hospitality and transportation for the artists and guiding younger talent buyers helping with this festival, just as Kendrick guided them in 2017.
Like Ryker, Barbour too has a long history with Volume, having started his graphic design career at The Inlander and worked on Volume 2019. The Great PNW will handle Volume's new visual branding.
"We're very much staking our flag in Spokane," Barbour says.
Ryker is especially hopeful that the next generation of talent buyers and music bloggers get inspired by the revamped Volume and go on to create festivals and publications of their own that give Spokane's creative scene a voice "beyond its own neighborhood."
"These celebrations are an opportunity for creatives from different walks of life, from different communities, sometimes from different sides of the state or sometimes from different states altogether to come together and all celebrate a common goal that we all have which is sharing, dancing and enjoying live music," Ryker says. ♦
Tickets for Volume are on sale now via VolumeSpokane.com. For more info, visit the website or email support@volumespokane.com.
