: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story identified the event as the Treefort Music Festival. The event is called the Treefort Music Fest.]
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
An annual rite of spring is underway in Boise, Idaho, the Treefort Music Festival. After all, Boise is named for le bois, French for woodland. Treefort began 13 years ago as a landing pad for artists looking for another gig after South by Southwest in Austin. But organizers now say it's become its own national fixture. NPR's Kirk Siegler dropped in for a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: A busker plays in front of a popular record store in downtown Boise.
JOSH RITTER: (Singing) Let's see where the night takes us. Let's see where the night goes.
(CHEERING)
SIEGLER: But you get a little closer, and you see this isn't just another dude with a guitar on the sidewalk. It's Americana star Josh Ritter, an impromptu free gig. It's a sure sign that it's once again time for the Treefort Music Festival.
RITTER: (Singing) Come on in. It's all good to see ya.
SIEGLER: Watching from across the street, Jessie Duvall couldn't be happier.
JESSIE DUVALL: I love that we're having this show that's just kind of on the road, spontaneous-ish (ph), that you can just stroll up to and watch some awesome music.
SIEGLER: After a gray, soggy winter, Duvall says Treefort is Boise's time to shine. And she says Idaho gets to be in the spotlight for something other than, say, potatoes or red state politics. Her friend, Grace Sanford, who lives in Toronto, never misses Treefort.
GRACE SANFORD: And I grew up here. And I know what it was like before Treefort. And let me tell you, Treefort is what makes me keep coming back home, because of the changes it's made to this town. It's amazing.
SIEGLER: Treefort started in this little blue sliver of Idaho 13 years ago, because organizers felt like their city and its burgeoning creative economy was getting passed over by bands on their way to Portland or Seattle. This is apparently no longer a problem.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIEGLER: This year, 437 artists are here, from the Brooklyn band Sex Week, playing here at a converted Shriners hall that's now a year-round indie rock club, to the big guys on the main festival stage, like Shakey Graves and Bright Eyes.
BRIGHT EYES: (Singing) This is the first day of my life.
SIEGLER: I would say the most popular thing about the festival, according to attendees, myself included, is discovery.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We just dropped a record that's all about...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Woo.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: ...Our state of Colorado.
SIEGLER: Just off the main stage, at the Hideout, I'm stumbling on Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, a folk-rock threesome based here in the Northwest.
RICHY MITCH AND THE COAL MINERS: (Singing) I was packin' up for my sprint up north like one of those great romantics.
SIEGLER: Even as it's gotten more national, organizers say the Treefort mission is the same - lifting up lesser-known artists, especially from rural areas in this region, where the arts isn't always a top focus. Treefort co-founder Eric Gilbert grew up in Boise before it started booming. After he left with his touring band, he saw a real need back home.
ERIC GILBERT: It's interesting that we've been kind of parallel to the growth of Boise, but when it comes to the creative scene here, I think we played a big role in that. And, yeah, it's - you know, now it's five days, over a thousand events over those five days of not just music, all the different forts.
SIEGLER: And there's now a Storyfort (ph), an Alefort (ph), a Pod - podcasts, of course - fort, a Dragfort(ph). Self-described queer singer/songwriter Henry Mansfield from Seattle says Treefort is a great place to be if you're looking to find high-caliber, completely unknown music.
HENRY MANSFIELD: We've applied every year last five years or so, got double waitlisted, double waitlisted, double waitlisted. And this is the first year we got in, so it feels good.
This is our very first Treefort, and we are so, so excited to be here.
(CHEERING)
SIEGLER: The scene here at The Olympic, a bar downtown, gets fun fast with his five-piece band that includes a guy and a miniature trumpet.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIEGLER: Mansfield told me getting into Treefort is validation that his art is getting noticed. This festival's organizers would no doubt say the same about their event. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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