Grooving. Raucous. Genre-bending. And always a ton of fun.

Built on more than 15 years of tradition, today’s Hillfolk takes their acoustic guitar, double bass, and “anything you can find at a hardware store” sound and integrates driving drums and an electrified sound, kicking down limitations to create a vibe that goes beyond their Americana “junkerdash” roots. Want to call it bluegrass’s trouble-making cousin? Fine by us. A bit of string-band blues? Sure ‘nuff. A concoction of electrified rockin’ soulful folksy witchcraft mayhem? Now you’re talking, mama. 

The indelible through-line is rooted in the band’s song craftsmanship. From mountains of frontman Travis Ward’s ragged, spiral-bound notebooks comes the hard and tender. They can blow the roof off the place or draw you around the fire with their earnest musical narratives of the back alleys, the open range, and the front porch. They paint with sound the earnest stories about the lives of lovers, law-breakers, and the lion-hearted. Heroes and outcasts alike. 

Hailing from Boise, Idaho, the always young-at-heart Hillfolk Noir has been carving their own musical path for 15 years. Grab a cup of juice and ease on down to enjoy these newfound Hillfolk vibes. “If John Steinbeck owned a speakeasy,” said John Doe (X, the Knitters), “Hillfolk Noir would be the house band.”

Veteran songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Coykendall has been amazingly prolific over the last four decades or so. Currently most well known for his duties as a sideman, producer, and recordist via his work with M Ward, Jolie Holland, Blitzen Trapper, Shook Twins, She & Him, Sallie Ford, Annalisa Tornfelt, & Tin Hat Trio, to name a few.

Coykendall (pronounced “Kirk-in-doll) was raised near the dead center of the contiguous 48 states of America in rural Norwich, Kansas. In early high school he began playing drums and guitar and went on to perform in mid-western regional cover bands during the early 80’s. In the mid 80’s he started writing and recording his own songs on cassette 4-track and soon formed Wichita, Kansas based prarie-psych popsters Klyde Konnor.

In ’91, he moved to San Francisco where he formed The Old Joe Clarks. A highly acclaimed Americana-esque outfit showcasing Coykendall’s voice and songwriting. The band made five records between 1994 & 2003.

In ’99 after relocating to Portland, Oregon, Coykendall was able to expand his home studio and begin working with other artists. M Ward’s Transfiguration of Vincent was among the first of the records recorded at his Blue Rooms home studio.

Coykendall has toured as a solo artist on the rig and has served as a support musician for M Ward, She & Him, Jolie Holland, Sallie Ford, Richmond Fontaine, Tommy Alexander, and Joe Kaplow. Usually playing rhythm guitar, or bass, or drums, and singing.

In 2012 Coykendall released  Chasing Away the Dots via Portland’s Fluff & Gravy Records. This tidy little diamond in the rough also contained guest appearances by some of Coykendall’s musical friends including M Ward, Zooey Deschanel, Eric Earley, & Ben Gibbard.

In 2010 he began performing solo with an oversized Kay electric guitar while stomping a tin can kick drum and swishing away on a huge set of high-hat cymbals. He began calling this setup the “rig” and this continues to be his main form of solo presentation. These spontaneous performances are often a thick mix of Coykendall’s own compositions and reinterpretations of other writer’s famous or not-so-famous gems.

In 2015 Coykendall released Half Past, Present Pending, partnering again with Fluff & Gravy Records. On this record, Coykendall takes the listener closer to the live “rig” performances by mixing excellent new compositions (check out “Hard Landing”) with compositions from his back catalogue (check out “East of Cheney” or “Spacebaker Blues”) in with fresh interpretations of other writers songs (he covers Roger Miller, Syd Barrett, etc) to great effect.

In 2021 he self released The Dirt and the Dust. This record saw him return to a less experimental, more songwriting forward, presentation.

He continues to write, perform, tour, produce, engineer, and wander SE Portland.