Soak up sounds and suds

Project Pabst pours on refreshing brew of shows at Zidell Yards

Terry Six muses for a moment on his life after The Exploding Hearts, the star-crossed Portland power pop band who had three its members die in a 2003 van accident just after the release of their critically acclaimed debut album “Guitar Romantic.”

The crash took the lives of Adam Cox, Matt Fitzgerald and Jeremy Gage. Six survived the crash, but his emotional life suffered enormously.

“I think I was extremely mad and angry and very upset for a very long time, and I thought the world owed me something,” he says. “I don’t think anybody had any sound advice for a 21-year-old who went through it.”

Married now, living in Oakland and working with autistic students, Six is in a much better place, he says.

“Things have been really good, and I can’t really find one thing to complain about.”

Among the good things that have happened are his reunion with fellow Hearts bandmate King Louie Bankston (who left the Hearts prior to the accident) in Terry and Louie. The duo, along with Chad Savage on bass, Julian Fried on guitar (and a fellow bandmate of Bankston in Missing Monuments), and Aaron Hill of Eyehategod on drums, will perform at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 19, at Project Pabst.

The music festival takes place in the South Waterfront District at Zidell Yards, 3030 S.W. Moody Ave., between the new Tilikum Crossing and the Ross Island Bridge on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19. Acts include Weezer, Blondie, TV On The Radio, and Run the Jewels.

Zidell Yards’ shows take place from 1-9 p.m. each day, and Pabst brand ambassador Matt Slessler wanted Terry and Louie on the outdoor bill.

“’Guitar Romantic’ is my favorite record to come out of Portland,” Slessler says.

Interestingly, Six notes in their heyday the Hearts were not all that popular in their hometown. Sadly, it was only in the years after the crash that Six realized how much the Hearts meant to others in the power pop and punk worlds. Fans include Green Day, who’ve played their tunes live, and Portland-based acts like The Cry, who have recorded such tunes as the anthemic “Modern Kicks.”

Six says he and Bankston — who lives outside New Orleans — hope to record a full album. The duo already have released two singles, the songs of which echo tunes like those the Hearts wrote, as well as those penned by Six’s other band, The Nice Boys. Six has started his own label, Tuff Break, an allusion to his past — “It definitely kind of sums up my existence” — and despite his hardships, he can’t help but continue to write upbeat rock ‘n’ roll in the tradition of such bands as Cheap Trick, The Raspberries and The Undertones.

“Nothing hit me really as hard,” he says of ‘70s-era power pop and punk. “It just felt right. It felt normal.”

Jukebox bar at midnight

Slessler says last year’s inaugural fest drew 14,000 people to Zidell Yards and 3,000 more to the club shows.

“We were more than pleasantly surprised,” he says, adding Project Pabst’s buzz “had a significant impact on sales” of PBRs in the area, which he credits for helping the beer company’s revival over the past several years.

This year’s festival will feature more seating and more shaded areas than last year’s, he adds, noting the company wants the festival to sound “like a jukebox bar at midnight.”

The Zidell Yards site also will feature a PBRcade, a “dive bar” with pinball machines and arcade games, including Nibbler and Pac Man, as well as “Eye Candy VJs.” You also can indulge in “Pabst VANdalism,” which includes drinking beer and spray painting a van.

Meanwhile, Clean Vibes is recruiting volunteers to keep the site clean. Volunteers must commit to seven total hours to earn a two-day ticket. All positions require a registration fee and deposit.

More music

In addition to the Zidell Yards shows on Saturday and Sunday, separately ticketed evening shows take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 17-19 at the Crystal Ballroom, Dante’s, Ash Street Saloon, Doug Fir, Mississippi Studios, Revolution Hall, Bunk Bar and Star Theater. Acts include Ghostface Killah, The Sonics, Roky Erickson, The Coathangers, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Pierced Arrows, Chrome, and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth.