Annual celebration of punk-influenced folk music comes to Ballard, featuring Danbert Nobacon of UK anarcho-pop collective Chumbawamba and Seattle Irish-punk stalwarts The Wages of Sin. The night will culminate with alt-folk “supergroup” The Pickpocket Revue covering punk and folk-punk classics.

April 23, 2015 (Seattle, Wash.) – The 4^th annual “Punk As Folk” showcase will return to Conor Byrne Pub (5140 Ballard Ave. NW) on Friday, May 22, 2015 celebrating punk-influenced folk music. Back for his third year as MC, will be Chumbawamba co-founder Danbert Nobacon. Danbert will host the evening and perform solo songs between bands, culiminating in a full-band set with alt-folk “supergroup” The Pickpocket Revue which features members of The Bad Things, The Wages of Sin, Bakelite 78, The Mongrel Jews and The Debaucherauntes. The Pickpocket Revue will also be covering punk rock and folk punk classics as part of their closing set. Other bands on the bill include Seattle’s celtic-punk pirates The Wages of Sin, “street folk” trio The Mongrel Jews, “Peruvian doomgrass” from the Butterflies of Death and “whiskey-soaked acoustic punk” from Portland, Oregon’s Whiskey Achievers. Tickets are $10 advanced/$12 day of show. Advanced tickets are on sale while supplies last (space is extremely limited) at http://punkasfolk2015.bpt.me/ via Brown Paper Tickets.

“I originally developed this night as a way for out-of-town bands playing the NW Folklife festival to have a paying gig while they were in town,” says event organizer Jimmy “The Pickpocket” Berg. “It’s now turned into a yearly tradition and a great way to kick off Memorial Day weekend for folk-punk fans. This year features all Pacific Northwest bands and is a great showcase of the vibrant folk-punk scene that exists here.”

2012, the inaugural year of Punk As Folk featured four days of performance at the orignal Funhouse on 5^th Avenue, across from Seattle Center. The bill featured acts from as far away as Australia, and leading acts in the folk-punk scene such as Santa Cruz’s Blackbird Raum and Victoria BC’s Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra.

The weekend was also notable for being the last public appearance of God’s Favorite Beefcake, which featured Drew Karikedes and Joe Albanese, two local musicians that were killed in the Cafe Racer shootings, just three days later. This year’s show will close with a sing-a-long of a God’s Favorite Beefcake song as a tribute to Drew and Joe. You can also purchase collectible, limited-edition Artist Tickets from Brown Paper Tickets (http://community.brownpapertickets.com/LP/ArtistTicket), with all proceeds from Artist Ticket sales going to the Cafe Racer shooting victim’s families and sole survivor.